Jan 26, 2010
250,000 to benefit from NKRA housing plan
SERI KEMBANGAN: About 250,000 hardcore poor in the country will benefit from the construction and restoration of new and existing houses under the Rural Development Ministry’s National Key Result Areas (NKRA).
Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the housing programme involved 91,500 people from the peninsula, while the rest are from Sabah and Sarawak.
Apart from providing houses, the ministry will supply clean water and electricity and build roads.
“Village roads totalling more than 5,400km will be constructed in Peninsular Malaysia alone,” Shafie said, adding that more than 1,900km of tarred roads and cobbled paths would be built in Sabah and Sarawak.
“A total of 706,000 households in rural areas nationwide will have 24-hour electricity supply, and at least 1.7 million people will have connection to clean and treated water supply by the end of 2012.”
Shafie said the initiatives taken are part of the Government’s six NKRAs announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“A total of RM17.4bil is allocated for the execution of NKRAs within three years starting this year.
“This year is a particularly challenging year for the ministry as we are kick-starting the NKRAs and we need to meet the target in time,” Shafie told a press conference after launching a district development seminar at a hotel here yesterday.
Although the ministry’s main agenda was to improve basic infrastructure in rural areas, Shafie said it was also tackling the issue of rural-urban migration, especially among the youth.
“Last year, the percentage of those living in the rural areas was 36.4% of the country’s population and the figure is expected to go down to 27.8% this year.
“We need to balance the development with employment opportunities so that youths won’t leave the villages,” he said.
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