KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin today called for state governments to provide sites for the construction of affordable homes.

So far, she said, only the Selangor government had expressed its willingness to do so.

"State governments should provide the sites as it is their responsibility to meet the demand for affordable houses by the people in their respective states,” she added.

She was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Mohd Nizar Zakaria (BN-Parit) on the construction of affordable houses during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She said cooperation by the state governments in providing the site, as well as public infrastructure for the housing projects, would reduce cost and the houses could be sold at lower prices.

To the original question by Mohd Nizar on the ministry’s commitment to continue with the 1Malaysia People’s Housing (PR1MA) initiative, Zuraida said the government was committed to do so and was coordinating the projects to facilitate management.

Earlier, during the Ministers’ Question Time, Zuraida told the Dewan Rakyat that the ministry would embark on several initiatives to help those in the B40 group (lower income bracket) to have their own houses.

She said they included taking on cost-effective measures by building more low-cost houses using the industrialised building system and making it easier for the low-income earners to apply for housing loans. — Bernama