BANTING: Digital technology used in the Industrialised Building System (IBS) method of construction will help in the government’s push to build more affordable housing.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said digital IBS, which involved the use of robotics, would not only benefit the housing sector, but also upskill the local workforce.
He said the technology had the potential to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign workers, thus preventing yearly outflow of capital.
“Innovation and digital technology will be the way forward to tackle the demand for affordable homes.
“The use of digital Industrialised Building System, which comprises Building Information Modeling (BIM), an online design tool coupled with IBS in public housing projects, will help the government to meet its target of one million affordable homes over a period of 10 years,” he said at the opening of the Gamuda IBS factory in the Mahkota Industrial Area.
The IBS factory in Banting is the second to be built by Gamuda Bhd since 2016. Both factories were developed at a total cost of RM500 million.
It can build 10,000 homes and 16,000 bathroom pods a year.
Dr Mahathir, who commended Gamuda for investing in IBS, said the digital shift in the construction sector was a type of disruptive technology that the country needed more of.
“Their move can set the trend in elevating and shifting construction. The digital manufacturing for construction will not only help the government build the affordable homes of the future, but will result in faster construction; a substantial reduction in dependency on foreign workers in the construction sector; substantial upskilling and localisation of the Malaysian construction workforce; and superior quality,” he said.
Dr Mahathir also commended Gamuda IBS for building affordable homes at comparable standards with high-end luxury homes.
Dr Mahathir said embracing digital IBS technology was timely as it was evolving with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0), as well as the current trend of automation and manufacturing technologies that includec cloud computing and BIM.
He said, as Malaysia was a developing country, providing an efficient supply of affordable homes was one of the government’s top priorities, with a special focus on the bottom 40 per cent income group (B40).
He said this was part of efforts to ensure the well-being and upward mobility of Malaysians since having a comfortable living space at the right location would help the people pursue employment and other economic opportunities.
Dr Mahathir said the National Housing Policy (2018-2025) contained specifications for housing for the B40, including build-ups of not less than 900sq ft (83.6sq m) along with amenities, facilities and access to public transport infrastructure, including railway systems to improve connectivity and spur business activities.
“Affordable housing development projects should be well planned with quality recreational facilities like a people’s park, sports area and a community club.
“In essence, a quality home is essentially a place where not only the living space is comfortable but it comes together in a conducive surrounding.”
Dr Mahathir said the short-term goals of the National Housing Policy included building up to 100,000 affordable homes capped at a price of RM300,000 by the end of the year.
The policy has also produced the National Affordable Housing Council, National Home Ownership Campaign and National Community Policy.
Addressing current concerns of oversupply, Dr Mahathir said one of the ways to mitigate such a phenomena was the Rent-to-Own (RTO) scheme, which offered buyers the option to rent their homes for five years and apply for end-financing to purchase the property in the sixth year.
“The (Housing and Local Government) Ministry has also been tasked to review the Build-Then-Sell (BTS) policy this year, which could reduce the risk to property buyers.”
He also urged the federal and state governments to address affordable housing issues. He said this was needed to resolve things such as supply and demand mismatch usually due to poor location, affordability levels and the need to manage profit against meeting the needs of the rakyat.