Cuepacs wants Budget 2018 to focus on affordable housing

KUCHING: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) is urging the government to focus more on efforts to enable each civil servant to own a house, in the 2018 Budget.
Its president Datuk Azih Muda said Cuepacs welcomed and deeply appreciated Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's commitment to ensuring that each civil servant could own a house, but some issues needed to be addressed to make it work.
The issues included house price, availability of houses and loan terms, he told reporters after meeting civilian staff in the Sarawak police contingent at the Pustaka Negeri auditorium, here, today .
Azih said Cuepacs also hoped that the 1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing Programme (PPA1M), an initiative mooted by Najib, would be expanded further in major cities in Sarawak.
"We also want the government to ensure that the price of houses will not go up up too high too fast until civil servants cannot afford them," he said.
Azih said Cuepacs hoped that the 2018 Budget would also consider providing some tax relief for civil servants, for example, on children who are still studying and for those taking care of their aged parents.
He said Cuepacs also called on the government to consider revising civil servants' salary, especially after the rationalisation of the existing public service schemes. — Bernama