The chief minister, who is on a visit to Hong Kong, said this after briefings and site visits conducted by Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Authority.
He had earlier visited China.
According to a Borneo Post report, Abang Johari said: “Hong Kong’s Rental Assistance Scheme and Tenant Purchase Scheme for example, assist their citizens in both renting and purchasing homes by providing financial assistance or subsidising the price of the properties.
“These are policies which we can learn from Hong Kong.”
But, Abang Johari cautioned, according to report, that not all elements of Hong Kong’s policies or project implementation would be suitable for Sarawak.
“While they have been successful with their housing development, the solution for Hong Kong is very different from ours as we have a luxury of land while they have a constraint of land. Rather than focus on developing upwards like they have, for Sarawak we will be developing laterally instead,” he was quoted as saying.
The problem with lateral development was distance that needed to be travelled and to overcome this, Abang Johari said, Sarawak would need to develop a proper public transport system.
“Once we have the public transport system, then the development can be expanded into suburban areas where the land cost is cheaper, allowing us to create townships and more affordable housing while providing the basic facilities in these new residential areas,” The Borneo Post quoted him as saying.
The working visit was organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urbanisation and Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Sheda) Kuching branch.
The Sarawak delegation includes Assistant Minister of Urbanisation Talib Zulpilip, Assistant Minister of Housing Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, State Ministry of Housing and Urbanisation permanent secretary Datu Sudarsono Osman and former Tasik Biri assemblyman Peter Nansian.
Others include Sheda Kuching advisers Sim Kiang Chiok and Zaidi Ahmad, Sheda Kuching chairman Dr Christopher Ngui and Sheda Kuching branch deputy chairman Tony Su.
“The purpose of these visits is to expose our developers as well as our policy makers to new ways of formulating strategies where we will be able to provide affordable housing and services to our people,” Abang Johari was quoted as saying by The Borneo Post.