SJN Mohd Zamri Ab Ghani has been living at the police quarters in Bandar Baru, Air Itam, for the past five years but the facilities are always breaking down despite government pledges to repair them in every national budget.“The quarters we live in are in a dilapidated condition.
“Most of the time, the lifts are not working and the living environment is below satisfactory,” he said.
Mohd Zamri added that he has heard similar promises to repair government quarters year after year.
“This is a recurring issue each year. But I hope that this time, the money will reach us and be used to improve the living quarters of personnel in uniformed agencies,” he said.
Budget 2025 has allocated RM1.8bil for the construction, maintenance and repair of government quarters including houses for teachers, doctors, police personnel, firefighters, prison staff and military families.Mohd Zamri, who has been in the police force for more than 15 years, praised Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for increasing ex-gratia payments for uniformed personnel who sustain injuries or who end up perishing in the line of duty.
Under the new scheme, members of security and enforcement forces who are permanently disabled while on duty will receive an ex-gratia payment of up to RM50,000 beginning this year.
A one-time ex-gratia payment of RM20,000 will also be provided to beneficiaries in cases of work-related fatalities, also from this year.
Nurse Noor Syafawati A. Aziz, 39, praised the government’s decision to extend the eligible age for civil servants applying for the Public Sector Home Financing Board to 40.
“Many civil servants still cannot afford to buy a home. By extending the eligible age, it will give us a better chance of owning a home under the scheme,” she said.
