KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has implemented the Suburban Broadband (SUBB) and Rural Broadband (RBB) projects nationwide providing high-speed fixed broadband services in the areas concerned.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (pix) said so far there were about 639,676 connections available, while more than 34,781 connections were still under implementation and expected to be ready in stages this year.
“Of the total, more than 48,450 connections have been completed in Sabah and more than 31,741 connections in Sarawak, while there are 924 connections in Sabah and 4,236 connections in Sarawak still in the implementation stage,“ he said when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s royal address for his ministry at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
According to Saifuddin, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will be conducting a more detailed study on the quality of services in the specified areas.
He said network testing will soon be carried out by service providers before improvements are made to the coverage and quality of services in these areas.
Meanwhile, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin when winding up the debate for her ministry said Sabah had the second most number of affordable housing projects in the country.
She said there were 39 People’s Housing Programme (PPR) projects, 2,656 units under civil servants housing programme, 1,833 affordable housing schemes, 8,963 units of PR1MA housing and 12,870 units under the Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) housing programme and 1,480 units under the Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) programme.
“So with this, we see the Federal government does not sideline the construction of affordable housing for Sabahans, especially for the low-income group, and there is also the implementation of MyHome (Private Affordable Housing Scheme) in Sabah,“ she said.
Meanwhile, Zuraida said her ministry would try to formulate a policy for longhouses, as 52 per cent of Sarawakians lived in such houses.
“So there is a need to come up with a policy, we will try to implement this. The committee (for the policy) has not yet been formed, but has just been initiated at the Housing Department level,“ she said in reply to Lukanisman Awang Sauni (GPS-Sibuti) who asked about the construction programme for longhouses. — Bernama
