Lower house price gives new hope for bumiputra contractors

KOTA BARU: The commitment by the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) to lower house prices by 10% gives new hope for bumiputra contractors to compete in the housing development sector.
Malaysian Malay Contractors Association president Datuk Mohd Rosdi Abdul Aziz said prior to this, the bumiputra contractors lagged behind in the housing sector due to the open tender system.
"It (open tender) requires huge cost because they have to get the building materials and other inputs," he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday.
He said this in response to the 2019 Budget tabled by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng during which he also announced that Rehda had agreed to reduce by 10% the price of houses for new projects.
"We thank Rehda for this as it will help the bumiputra contractors to be active again, especially in providing houses for the people," said Mohd Rosdi.
A private sector employee, Ismail Muhammad, 45, said the reduction in the price of houses would provide more opportunity for the lower income earners to have their own house.
Meanwhile, more than 40,000 farmers in the Kemubu Agriculture Development Authority (Kada) are disappointed that no specific allocation for padi farmers was mentioned in the budget.
Chairman of the Coordinating Body for the Kada Area Farmers Organisation, Tengku Hussin Tengku Abdul Rahman said they were disappointed as they felt their role was not appreciated by the government. — Bernama