Sarawak looking at Singapore to solve its squatter problems.

SINGAPORE, May 23, 2014: Sarawak is looking at Singapore's success story to solve its squatter and dilapidated kampung problems.

Housing Minister Abang Johari Openg, who led a 50-member delegation on a study tour to Singapore, was impressed with the island republic's housing development policy to help the urban poor.

"We are studying the possibility of adopting Singapore's widely acclaimed public housing development policy to solve our squatter problems and dilapidated kampung houses," Abang Johari said today.

He said a good resettlement policy is necessary as some of the state land acquired for public housing purposes for development projects had been populated by squatters and residents of dilapidated kampongs.

"They need to be resettled in acceptable accommodations," he said after he and members of the delegation had been briefed on Singapore Land Use Planning System with the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

The delegation comprised officials from the Sarawak Housing Ministry, Land Custody and Development Authority (PELITA), Kuching North City Hall (DBKU), Kuching South City Council (MBKS) and Land and Survey Department.

The visit was to gather new ideas and best practices that may be customized and applied in Sarawak’s public housing scenario. The visit also hoped to understand Singapore Housing and Development Board's new approach to public housing projects.

Johari stressed that resettlement is  necessary in the interest of social justice and in line with the policy of providing squatter and slum dwellers with a better standard of housing and living.

"The good resettlement policy applied by Singapore government has improved living standards for a large number of Singaporeans,” he added.

According to him, the main vehicle for implementing the policy is the Singapore Housing and Development Board (HDB). In 1997, 85% of Singapore population owned or lived in a HDB-developed flat.

Since then, the Singapore model has been widely hailed as a success and is often studied by other countries to solve the housing problems of their urban population.

He added most governments have attempted to implement housing programmes so to house their urban poor.

However, such programmes undertaken by these governments have usually met with failure or only limited success. This is because efforts to improve the quality of lives of the urban poor are also often negated by the rapidly deteriorating housing conditions in the slum and squatters area.

Assistant Minister of Housing Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said in almost all Third World countries, housing the urban poor in suitable conditions is an uphill battle.

The pace of urbanization, the rate of economic growth, the availability of land for housing, the increase in land prices and inappropriate strategies for urban planning and land appropriation all directly contribute to this problem. 

“The lack of appropriate planning and local policies hinders any attempts to effectively shelter the poor. To further compound this problem, city-planning and management policies are often at odds with the policies designed to obtain and maintain adequate shelter for the urban poor,” he said.

According to him, this is the common situation in the majority of Asian countries.

However, Singapore has been a notable exception to this rule. Singapore was able to implement city planning and urban management policies that actually benefit the poor, and its housing programme has been successful and admired for producing low-cost, affordable housing on a mass scale.