KOTA BARU, March 19 — The Ministry of Local Government Development (KPKT) will give priority to states that offer land in strategic locations for free or at nominal premium rate to implement people’s housing projects (PPR).

Its minister, Nga Kor Ming said the move was to enable the government to optimise allocations for building houses instead of having to pay for the cost of land.

The federal government and KPKT had always been fair and any state that is willing to offer land for free or at a nominal fee will be given priority in developing the housing programmes, he added.

"This is because according to past experience, 30 to 35 per cent of PPR costs was to pay for the land premium rate so we had to forego on the quality of the houses.

"As such, we welcome the cooperation of state governments on this matter and I hope Kelantan too will show its commitment to work with the federal government to make this mission a success.”

He said this in a press conference after the launch of Tok Kenali Market in Binjai which was also attended by Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob, here today.

Nga added that the federal government has allocated RM387 million for the people’s housing programme this year.

"This year we are very grateful because apart from the RM387 million allocation, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has provided another RM385 million for user-friendly houses, so the total allocation for housing projects this year is over RM700 million.

"We will work hard to achieve KPKT’s aspiration of one family and one house,” he said. — Bernama