Berjaya Group to build 100 homes for the poor

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Group has pledged to build 100 houses for the underprivileged in Malaysia in collaboration with a Philippines NGO.
With the objective of building simple and comfortable homes for the homeless, Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan is looking into providing a platform for convergence of NGOs and corporate groups to alleviate poverty in the most rural communities in Malaysia.
This is based on the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Community Development Foundation’s concept of poverty alleviation and nation-building in the Philippines, which has given a new lease of life for the underprivileged since its establishment in 2003.
“For the GK here, we will work with (the foundation). We are willing to contribute for a start for 100 houses in Malaysia.
“What we need to do now is to work out the design and in fact GK has found a builder in Malaysia, who can build these houses for much cheaper than anybody else,” Tan told a press conference today at a talk here.
Commending the work of GK in the Philippines and in the region, he said there is a need for similar efforts in Malaysia.
“Many Malaysians still do not have proper homes. Imagine having to live under a bridge or by the grave without a roof above their head.
“We can help create heaven on earth for these people,” Tan said.
Noting that the proposal is still in the planning stage, GK executive director Jose Luis Oquinena told theSun that the project will be executed in KL and Sabah.
“We are going to have several meetings before we leave for the Philippines so that we can have an organisational plan to build the houses in KL and Sabah.
“Later in June, a study group from PACOS Trust (an NGO which supports Sabah's indigenous community) and a few other NGOs from Sabah will visit GK in the Philippines.
“They will also visit several communities that we have been talking about to study the different templates that we are doing. Hopefully it can be adopted here in the Malaysian setting,” he said.
Oquinena said the GK-Malaysia project will not just be a Berjaya initiative, but will be a collaboration with other organisations as well.
“GK-Malaysia will be a convergence of a few NGOs. It will provide a platform where each organisation can bring in its own expertise and strengths and maintain its own identity,” he said.
The talk entitled ‘Asean Solidarity to End Poverty by Creating Shared Prosperity’ by GK, saw the gathering of various NGOs and social partners from Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan who shared their insights and experiences in poverty alleviation, social development and entrepreneurship.
GK founder and philanthropist Tony Meloto shared his personal journey and experience in eradicating poverty by building a sustainable township development that incorporates community, industry and a university in an agri-based setting in the Philippines.