ROMPIN: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah today presented house keys to seven recipients of the Rumah Rakyat Al-Sultan Abdullah (Ru'RASA) in the district.
Al-Sultan Abdullah said more houses will be built in Pahang after he was briefed that 124 units out of 178 Ru'RASA homes were completed and ready for occupancy.
"This is my effort, along with the Pahang government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help the people of Pahang...we aim to diversify housing options for the people through the state government initiatives such as Rumah Rakyat Pahang, Rumah Makmur and PR1MA Pahang.
"I always remind the state government to diversify housing options…the people of Pahang should get a house lot for them to do some gardening in the future," said the King when officiating the handover ceremony of the Ru'RASA house keys to the recipients in Kampung Janglau, here.
Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, the UAE Ambassador Dr Mubarak Saeed Ahmed Burshaid AlDhaheri, Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman and Rompin District Officer Datuk Ahmad Nasim Mohd Sidek were also in attendance.
The Ru'RASA housing project in the Rompin district involves the construction of three-bedroom single-storey and stilted houses each valued at RM75,000 and RM100,000.
The King also expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan for his assistance in providing comfortable homes to the underprivileged.
"Thank you to the state government for providing the housing site and the UAE government for contributing including to flood victims previously.
"The recipients of this house should feel thankful. I would like to advise them not to sell or rent the houses and to live here until old age…(but) if you want to extend or beautify (the house), that is your right," he added.
Meanwhile, a lorry driver, Hairul Anwar Hashim, 45, expressed his gratitude to Al-Sultan Abdullah for making his dream of owning a house come true.
A single mother of five, Anita Ab Kadir, 49, expressed relief to live in her own home.
"I work at a food stall that pays a daily wage of RM30…this makes it difficult for me to buy a house," she said, adding that she is grateful for the home provided. -- Bernama