HIS Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday consented to visit the residences of Terrace and Semi-Detached houses recipients from the Landless Indigenous Citizens Housing Scheme (STKRJ) Kampung Katok ‘B’ in Mukim Gadong and STKRJ Kampung Lugu in Mukim Sengkurong.

Dayang Sainah binti Ahmad, a housewife and a mother of four who received a Terrace House at STKRJ Kampung Katok ‘B’, together with her family expressed their gratitude in receiving the house from the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

“Alhamdulillah, all the rooms are enough for my family of six. We have waited for the house for 14 years since 1997. We have moved here from Kampung Ayer and have lived in this house for the past three months,” said Dayang Sainah.

Dayang Sainah’s family also presented a pesambah to His Majesty during the monarch’s visit to their home in the form of a walking stick crafted by Sainah’s husband.

Another house visited by His Majesty was the home of Dayang Norazizah binti Ali, 25, who lives with her parents and uncle. During the visit, His Majesty consented to sign a house key plaque.

Dayang Norazizah said that she applied for housing in 2009. Upon relocating from Kampong Sumbiling Lama, her application was sped up and she was granted a house at Kampong Mata-Mata (Katok ‘B’) Gadong ‘A’.

The proud owner of an ‘F’ Terrace House, she and her family have no complaints about their new house and are blessed with very pleasant and considerate neighbours.

She is grateful towards the government and His Majesty for granting them a comfortable home.

One of the recipients from STKRJ Kampung Lugu, Dayang Mimi Zahwati binti Mohammad, working as a government officer and a mother to five children, told the Bulletin that they have waited for their Semi-Detached house in Jalan Basung for about 18 years.

Although the house has less than five rooms, Dayang Mimi Zahwati stated that they are happy that the wait is finally over.

Moreover, Awang Haji Ismail, an employee of Brunei Press who was also a recipient during the morning’s House Key presentation, said that he feels very grateful to Allah the Almighty and had expressed appreciation towards His Majesty’s consent to award the house keys for the comfort of Brunei citizens.

As a whole, the STKRJ Katok ‘B’ covers an area of 53.3 hectares that includes a total of 990 units of housing where 94 units are Semi-Detached houses with a floor area of 137 square metres; 344 units of ‘D’ Terrace Houses with a floor area of 130 square metres; 284 units of ‘E’ Terrace Houses with a floor area of 119 square metres; and 268 units of ‘F’ Terrace Houses with a floor area of 109 metres.

Whereas in STKRJ Kampung Lugu, a total of 520 housing units were built on a 52.5 hectares of land that includes 18 Semi-Detached housing units, 210 ‘D’ Terrace Houses, 146 ‘E’ Terrace Houses and 146 ‘F’ Terrace Houses.

The Semi-Detached houses cover a floor area of 130 square metres while the ‘D’ Terrace houses cover an area of 118 square metres. The ‘E’ Terrace houses cover an area of 103 square metres while the ‘F’ Terrace houses cover 90 square metres of the land.

The preparation of houses for His Majesty’s citizens such as the building of specific classes of houses such as Semi-Detached and Terrace houses is a continuous effort made by His Majesty’s Government through the Housing Development Department (JKP) under the Ministry of Development to ensure the well-being of those who are eligible to have their own place of residence who do not have homes and land with an environment that is comfortable and creates a sense of a harmonious neighbourhood.

Since the beginning of the National Housing Scheme until now, there have been about 21,000 houses and land lots that have been completed across the country where a total of 15,831 houses have been built under the National Housing Scheme and 5,502 houses have been built under STKRJ.

Out of the total, more than 13,000 housing units and land lots were under the implementation of the Ministry of Development through the JKP and Public Works Department (JKR), whereas the remainder was implemented by the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB).

Meanwhile, according to overall statistics, it was recorded that a total of 15,459 recipients in all four districts of Brunei have been allocated a house or land lot where from the total of recipients, 11,209 consists of those from the Brunei-Muara District where 8,483 were under the National Housing Scheme and 2,726 were allocated under STKRJ.

Under the 10th National Development Plan (RKN 10), housing will continue to be a priority to meet the demands of the people across the country. Therefore, the Ministry of Development through the Housing Development Department will continuously prepare housing with a resilient concept that can be owned in line with the objective of the RKN to enhance the people’s quality of life. - Borneo Bulletin (3 June 2014)