KUCHING: Kalaka assemblyman Mohamad Duri has pledged his support to assist residents who wish to build new longhouses in his constituency.
He said that there are certain procedures, including a site feasibility study that needed to be carried out before construction could begin.
Presently, he said the constituency has 34 longhouses, with an additional application to build another longhouse in the Batu Burak area.
“We are committed to help by allocating funds to level the proposed site and assisting them in applying for the Long House Loan Scheme,” he said to the media today.
However, he requested patience as various processes and site studies needed to be carried out first.
During his inspection of the proposed area for the Tambi Bidah longhouse site in Batu Burak, he had a meeting with representatives of the residents. They informed him that 20 families are planning to reside in the area.
“The Longhouse Loan Scheme, managed by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), received annual approvals of RM50 million from the Sarawak government and RM10 million from the federal government between 2020-2022.
“As of November 2022, a total of RM142 million has been successfully distributed to 218 longhouses, benefiting 4,747 households,” he added.
Under this scheme, interest-free loans of up to RM30,000 per door are provided in the form of building materials, enabling longhouse communities to construct or repair their homes.
