Blazing new trails:(From left) Housing and Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, Assistant Housing Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and Demak Laut assemblyman Dr Hazland Abang Hipni looking at a model of the new township at Muara Tebas, near Kuching, yesterday.

KUCHING: The Housing Ministry aims to strike a balance between affordability and liveability at all its new public housing projects.

Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the challenge was to find a middle ground in all aspects, from the type of houses on sale, the amount of government subsidies versus privately funded aspects, and also to take into account different lifestyles.

He said this concept would begin with an in-development “Rumah Mesra Rakyat” (RMR) in Muara Te-bas near here where good relations between people of different backgrounds was a “fundamental principle”.

“At Kampung Muara Tebas, we have the historical Tua Pek Kong temple. At the new project, we’re going to build a mosque by a man-made lake. Both will be facing the sea. We have such good relations here. In Sarawak, we really have harmony among the religions.”

Also on the drawing board were a kindergarten and a primary school, a double storey food court and a petrol station, he said.

Johari said the project, which would be built over 12 phases, was a public-private partnership.

According to him, the Government-subsidised affordable housing would comprise small bungalows based on eight different designs. Later phases in the project’s residential portion would include terraced and semi-detached houses by the private sector.

Johari said individual land lots could also be sold off for future land owners to design and build their own houses.

“All the basic amenities we (Government) need to fund. Things like cycling and walking tracks are done by us,” he said.

The idea behind the whole thing was to design and implement a self-contained residential estate, he added.

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