KUCHING: The Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) has identified 44 more dilapidated houses in areas of its jurisdiction to be repaired next year under the House Repair For The Poor programme.
Its chairman Lo Khere Chiang in revealing this said the goal of the programme is to ensure that the houses of those who are underprivileged are safe and comfortable to live in as it is part of their basic needs.
“The programme was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) in 2016 with the purpose to improve the well-being of the poor by repairing their houses that are in poor condition.
“MPP has repaired 114 houses for the poor since 2016 and each house is allocated with a maximum of RM15,000 for its repairs.
“The house repairs included repairs or replacement of roofs, ceilings, walls, floors, windows, stairs and toilets or sanitation facilities,” he said when met by the press after chairing the MPP Council Meeting at MPP Complex, here on Wednesday (Dec 30).
Lo said the state government had consistently allocated RM1 million a year on top of a total of RM1.7 million allocated by the federal government since the implementation of the programme in 2016.
“This is a good programme by the state and federal governments as we are able to help a lot of people who are genuinely in need of assistance,” he said, adding that the council only spends its allocation where it befits the purpose.
With the ongoing implementation of the programme, Lo said he was confident that the issue of dilapidated houses could be solved within the next five years.
“In the next five years, the will no longer be leaking roofs in houses under MPP jurisdiction,” he said in assurance.
Additionally, the implementation of the programme has also resulted in MPP being declared as the winner for the 2020 JCI Malaysia Sustainable Development Award for ‘SDG Goal No.1: No Poverty’ category, Lo said.
“In Malaysia, there are only two councils, namely MPP and Kuching South City Council (MBKS) that managed to win these awards. This shows that Sarawak ‘boleh’ and we should be proud of Sarawak for being the champions of these categories,” he added.
