JOHOR BAHRU (Sept 5): The Cabinet has approved the rebranding of the People's Housing Programme (PPR) as the People's Residency Programme (PRR).

Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said the programme is expected to start in Johor next year, with Larkin likely to be the first location for construction.

"The new PRR programme received the Cabinet’s approval this week. We will bring a new concept, where PRR with higher quality will be priced reasonably.

"I expect the first location to be in Johor and most likely in Larkin," he said when asked to comment on PRR at a press conference after officiating the ministry's Sentuhan Kasih Programme at Pelangi Indah Residence here on Thursday.

He, however, said any further details of the construction of PRR will be announced later.

Nga meanwhile said his ministry supports Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's desire to build up to 500,000 units of public housing, which will also see the rebranding of PPR as PRR.

He said the effort will be an improvement by being more environmentally friendly, conducive, livable, and with more integrated features introduced under the new concept of PRR.

Earlier, Nga was quoted as saying that the minimum size of a PRR unit is 750 sq ft, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Meanwhile, Nga said his ministry had allocated almost RM1 billion for public housing projects involving PPR residences, PR1MA Corporation Malaysia and Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) nationwide this year.

He said that the ministry through the National Housing Department, PR1MA and SPNB had built 26,662 housing units in Johor as of July 31.

Earlier, in the Sentuhan Kasih programme, Nga officiated the handover of keys for Pelangi Indah Residence under PR1MA, which consists of 720 residential units, with various facilities such as a prayer hall, playground, nursery, multipurpose hall and meeting room.

Nga also handed over an allocation of RM4 million for local plan studies by the Johor Bahru City Council and Iskandar Puteri City Council.

In addition, an allocation of RM1 million was handed over to the municipal councils of Muar and Kulai and the Kota Tinggi District Council for the Safe City Programme: Blackspot Area Whitening Initiative, and RM3.5 million to 32 non-Islamic places of worship in Johor.

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