Zuraida: PPR projects to be monitored

SIBU: The federal Ministry of Housing and Local Government will set up a special committee to monitor its housing projects.

Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the Seduan People’s Housing Project (PPR) here would be one of the projects to come under the committee, which will be headed by the ministry’s deputy secretary-general.

“The committee will make sure monitoring of ongoing projects is taking place and taken seriously. They have to report twice a month to me.

“I hope the Seduan PPR will be the model for us to move forward in managing such projects,” she told a press conference after performing the ground-breaking for the project in Sibu Jaya here yesterday.

Earlier, Zuraida said she was frustrated by an audit report after the last parliamentary sitting stating that the ministry’s PPR had failed to follow project conditions.

She said this showed the ministry’s Project Development and Implementation Division is weak in terms of project monitoring.

“I reminded the division to make sure they monitor this project so it can be completed according to specifications, schedule, and without unacceptable defects.

“We would understand if there are some defects and we would give time for developers to repair,” she added.

She also said the ministry will be very strict in ensuring PPR developers follow the conditions outlined by the ministry.

“The moment the developer fails to comply with the conditions, we have to take immediate action of termination. We cannot wait for longer than that. These are the measures. We are cleaning up the ministry,” she stressed.

On PPR Seduan, she said the project involves the construction of 461 units of single-storey terraced houses for a contract sum of RM88 million.

Scheduled for completion in October 2022, the development would be equipped with facilities such as a playground, surau, and multipurpose hall.

Among those present were Senator Robert Lau and Sibu Rural District Council chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai.