GOVT TO BUILD 17,000 HOMES FOR HARDCORE POOR

KLANG (Malaysia), Feb 6 (Bernama) -- Some 17,000 houses will be built for
the hardcore poor for more comfortable living under the Housing Assistance
Programme of the Rural and Regional Development Ministry.

Its minister Muhammad Muhd Taib said the ministry had allocated RM500
million to build the homes for those earning less than RM600 monthly, and
hopefully, there would be no more hardcore poor without a house by 2010.
(US$1=RM3.61)

"Each hardcore-poor family will be built a house costing RM33,000 while in
Sabah and Sarawak, the house will cost RM40,000," he said at a briefing on the
Housing Assistance Programme and Village Action Plan 2009 for Selangor in Kapar,
near here, Thursday.

Muhammmad said the government would also allocate RM11,000 for each existing
house which was still safe to live in by the hardcore poor for them to do
repairs or replace the floor, roof and walls.

For this purpose, he said the federal village security and development
committees in states of Selangor, Penang in the north, Kelantan in the east
coast and Kedah in the north, as well as similar committees in ruling Barisan
Nasional-governed states and the members of parliament should provide a list of
names of the hardcore poor in their respective areas to the ministry.
-- BERNAMA