TEMERLOH: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah presented house keys to eight recipients of Rumah Rakyat Al-Sultan Abdullah (Ru'RASA) homes in the district, which were built in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government.
In his speech at the key presentation ceremony, His Majesty expressed his appreciation and gratitude to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan for his generosity in granting huge allocations to help those in need own a home.
"The Ru'RASA project is a joint effort between me and the UAE President. Thank you, on behalf of myself and the state government, to His Highness. I’m just fulfilling a trust.
"Thank you to the state government for paying off part of the construction. A total of 178 Ru'RASA homes will be built in Pahang and so far, 92 have been completed,” said His Majesty on Friday (Sept 22).
Al-Sultan Abdullah also visited four Ru'RASa homes in Kampung Ketam, Kuala Sanggang, Kampung Batu and Kampung Bukit Kelulut.
Also present were His Majesty’s sons, the Regent of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, Tengku Panglima Raja Colonel Tengku Amir Nasser Ibrahim Shah and Tengku Arif Bendahara Tengku Muhammad Iskandar Ri'ayatuddin Shah.
UAE Embassy Charge D'Affaires Aamer Hasan Alteneiji and Pahang Menteri Besar were also in attendance.
Al-Sultan Abdullah also expressed his gratitude to the contractors involved in the construction of the homes and prayed for their continued blessings, for their willingness to help the needy.
His Majesty also advised the recipients to care for their houses and not sell them.
"Hopefully, the owners of the house will be grateful and appreciative. This property needs to be well maintained and passed down to the heirs. If there are no heirs, (they can) contact the district office,” said His Majesty.
Meanwhile, one of the recipients Mohamad Suhaimi Md Yusof, 43, from Kampung Bukit Kelulut, described the three-bedroom Ru'RASA home he received as a blessing.
The car workshop worker said this is due to the fact that he has repeatedly applied for affordable housing schemes, including the People's Housing Project (PPR), but has never been successful.
"My wife and I have been staying in my mother’s house ever since we were married. Alhamdulillah, we now have our own house, which is also fully furnished and a gift from His Majesty.
"This house is very comfortable for us, more importantly, my kids are all happy because they now have their own private space,” said the father of three, aged 11 to 19.- Bernama
