Better living: Nga delivering his keynote address at the 81st Session of the Escap in Bangkok, Thailand.
PETALING JAYA: With local home-ownership standing at 77%, the government will focus on integrating features that support holistic living in its urban development.
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming, who disclosed this, said the development of green public spaces and childcare facilities would be given priority to support working families.
“Our utmost priority is to preserve the humane element in our public housing initiatives.
“To that end, we are integrating features that support holistic living, such as the development of green public spaces and childcare facilities to support working families,” he said on Monday in his keynote address at the 81st Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) in Bangkok, Thailand.
Escap is an intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region, comprising 53 member states and nine associate members.
As one of the United Nation’s five regional commissions, Escap promotes regional cooperation to address sustainable development challenges.
Nga said initiatives such as the Affordable Housing Programme (Rumah Mampu Milik), Citizen-Friendly Home Programme (Rumah Mesra Rakyat), and housing projects under PR1MA prioritised eco-friendly designs while scaling up industrialised building systems to reduce construction waste.
Nga said the newly-rebranded People’s Residency Programme will also integrate the Green Building Index, urban farming, rainwater harvesting systems and rooftop solar panels to ensure that the urban poor were not left behind during the transition to a green economy.
He said the Malaysian government also emphasised on community-driven housing initiatives, through programmes such as the Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) and urban farming projects to ensure that housing solutions aligned with social resilience and food security strategies.
“As Asean Chair, Malaysia reaffirms our commitment to advancing housing policies that align with global best practices.
“Malaysia looks forward to steering Asean towards achieving collective understanding for bold and urgent measures to address housing accessibility, resilience and inclusivity,” he added.
