Houses and More Houses

I was presiding over the selection of houses last week for both the National Housing Scheme (RPN) and the Landless Scheme (STKRJ) for 160 houses at Rimba and Sungai Buloh. For most recipients this pengundian ceremony is the best as this is the time they actually get the keys to their houses. But of course the most memorable occasion would be when His Majesty hands them the plaque to commemorate the ceremony and for a lucky few, get their houses visited by the monarch himself.

During this ceremony, we hold a drawing session where every applicant gets to draw which his house would be his in that area. Many bring their spouses and children and ask their children or their other half to draw on their behalf. A number would be shaking when they open their draw. Some might be lucky and get corner units or houses at the end of the road etc. There was one time when we all saw that one applicant would be getting a relatively larger area compared to the others because of the shape of the land and because the house was right at the end. The person who got eventually it was a worker who works at the cemetery. So we all thought this is the Al-Mighty's gift to him.

Anyway, here are a couple more scenes from the majlis pengundian:-




Every time we do this exercise, many people would ask us what year is this? Meaning of course what year of RPN or STKRJ applicants are currently being given houses. The next question would be when would be their turn. If you go to Department of Housing Development website, the information is there telling you when the projects are completed and how many houses per area etc.

I have to admit we are still a bit slow in providing the house but we have now speeded up our production that by the end of 2012, there should not be any problem in Belait District as the number of houses available would exceed the demand there. So if you are in Belait, do not worry. For Tutong and Temburong, the year would be 2014 when it faced the similar situation in Belait. Unfortunately for Daerah Burnei, by end of 2014, there should be enough houses for all applicants up to the year 2001. So waiting list would be down to about 10 year. However we would be building very fast in the next RKN so every applicant up to 2010 would have their house before the end of the next RKN of 2017.

For those in the Brunei Muara District curious enough to know where they would be staying here are the facts about house applicants and houses being constructed:-

RPN 1991 (remainder) : 181 applicants
RPN 1992-1993 : 1,168 applicants
RPN 1994 : 1,410 applicants
STKRJ 1992-1994 : 786 applicants
TOTAL : 3,550 applicants

Houses under construction completed between now and 2012:

RPN Meragang Area : 1,583 houses
RPN Tanah Jambu Area : 2,136 houses
STKRJ Tanah Jambu Area : 356 houses
STKRJ Sg Buloh : 181 houses
STKRJ Rimba : 140 houses
TOTAL : 4,396 houses

So applicants up to 1995 in Brunei Muara District can rest easy, their houses would be completed by next year. For those from 1996 onwards, there are several smaller areas in Lugu and other spots as well plus the 4,000 houses built by BEDB at Mengkubau that would be completed by 2014.