SARAWAK GOV'T ALLOCATES RM150 MILLION FOR LONGHOUSE LOAN SCHEME
By Frank Julian Martin
SIBU, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- The Longhouse Loan Scheme is one of the unique initiatives implemented by the Sarawak government to help residents in such homes finance their construction costs.
Sarawak Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government II, Michael Tiang Ming Tee said since 2020, the Sarawak government has allocated almost RM150 million for a loan scheme in the form of building materials for the construction or renovation of longhouses in the state.
He said that based on the Sarawak Housing Development Corporation (HDC) report, RM141.12 million from the allocation had been used for 218 projects that benefited a total of 4,747 ‘pintu’ (household units of a longhouse).
"As for funding from the Federal Government, RM180.23 million has been allocated through the Tabung Amanah Loan Scheme (2007-2021), of which RM152.97 million has been used to finance 403 projects that benefit 9,121 household units," he told Bernama recently.
Tiang said a total of RM29,567,000 had been approved since 2018 for use in Sibu division which also covers Selangau and Kanowit areas, with 173 applications involving 1,017 household units.
"A total 66 of these applications have been approved, while the remaining 107 applications are still on the waiting list," he said.
The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)-led state government under the leadership of Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg is committed to bridging the development gap between urban and rural areas and will continue to provide better facilities for villagers and longhouses.
Under the eighth thrust of its 15th general election (GE15) manifesto, GPS promised to increase allocations for construction assistance and renovation of village homes and longhouses throughout Sarawak.
Lily Alang, 47, from the the Rascom Sekuau Resettlement Scheme in Selangau said the allocation meant a lot for people in rural areas who are less able.
"This is very helpful to the longhouse community who cannot afford to build new longhouses, especially fire victims," she said.
According to Lily, priority is given to those affected by fires or other disasters and the long and interest-free loan repayment period does not burden the recipient.
In Sekuau, there are already two longhouses that benefited from the loan.
This initiative is a GPS effort in addition to providing housing loans to help the B40 group buy homes developed by HDC.
The B40 and M40 groups are also given the Housing Deposit Assistance Scheme (HDAS) which provides assistance with an advance payment of 10 percent or up to RM10,000 to own a first home.
-- BERNAMA
