KUCHING, August 30 : Private developers and contractors are being put in a tight situation due to the sudden manifold price increase of construction materials and other inputs, especially when it comes to the construction of affordable housing where selling prices are capped.
Despite the small number of abandoned housing projects by private developers in Sarawak, it is timely for the Sarawak government to review the mechanism to assist private developers as they cannot increase the prices of affordable houses while doing their level best to complete such houses even under the current challenging circumstances.
In a statement by Mr. Augustine C.H. Wong, the president of Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (SHEDA) supports the decision made by Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) for the Sarawak State Government to consider the plight of private contractors and developers.
Considering that developers are unable to undertake projects at a financial loss, it is crucial to look at the capping of selling prices. This is to ensure that there is a constant and sufficient supply of affordable housing in Sarawak.
To make matters worse, commercial bankers will not grant bridging finance to any private contractors or developers to undertake loss-making ventures.
Sarawakku Sayang Special Aid (BKSS) will facilitate the viability of government contractors to carry on with existing projects, which eventually will minimize the number of ‘project sakit’ in Sarawak.
Therefore, SHEDA hopes that the Sarawak government will consider to aid the stakeholders in the Sarawak economy who have been left out of BKSS 9.0. -TVS
