PBR Lubok Antu 2009

Program Bantuan Rumah

The Government's drive to ensure that the welfare of the people who are in the extreme poverty category are taken care of made a good start in Lubok Antu via the Program Bantuan Rumah (PBR) or House Assistance Program launched in early 2009. Most of the houses that are built for the needy in this district are expected to be completed soon. I managed to sample this heartwarming effort. PBR focuses on the elderly folks (65 years old and above), sick, handicapped, single parents and those who lost their homes due to fire or natural disasters and those in the extreme poverty (earnings below RM500) or poverty (earnings below RM800) list. The priority for the first phase are those in the Extreme Poverty listm especially those who have registered with the Welfare Department, and those identified by the District Office through recommendations from the local Yang Berhormat and community leaders.

Trip to Lubok Antu - no wrong turn or we may end up at the Indonesian Border

Recipient of the PBR we visited was Mr. Sandai Ak Nybik who is a senior citizen (above 65 years old). What is impressive s that the house was built within a month fitted with the necessary basic utilities - water supply and electricity supply

Additional conditions for the recipients are that they do not have a house or that the existing house they have are not fit to live in and the land where the house is to be built must belong to them

Mr. Sandai's old house is located near his PBR house

What Mr. Sandai called home all this while is about to change. Its quite sad to see this zinc structure which is considered his home. While taking the pictures also I discovered, for the lack of proper toilet, the surrounding area is considered the toilet and its like a minefield here...yikes!

The toilet inside the new house - though I would have thought a sitting toilet would be better compared to a squatting toilet bowl (if you have a knee problem at this age) - but its good enough anyway

The bathroom


The Lubok Antu Sarawak Administrative Officer, Mr. Ignatius Ayai inspecting the completed house. Mr. Sandai refused to cut down the rambutan tree outside the house.

The water tank outside the house

Electricity wiring with fluorescent bulbs and a fan

Though the size of the living room does not see any partitions with the kitchen it is enough to call home for this elderly folks.

There are three spacious rooms for Mr. Sandai's family - most of the houses built under PBR Lubok Antu have three bedrooms at a cost of RM40,000 each. The two bedrooms one are RM33, 600.

Handing over of the house - or home to Mr. Sandai is currently awaiting for the Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation (SESCO) electricity connection, which is expected soon. It is hoped that the effort of providing quality shelter for the needy and those in the extreme poverty category will help them uplift themselves one notch out of the poverty trap. It is indeed a challenge for our office to locate those who may have been left out from the list as most of the people who deserve this assistance usually shy away from our officers. Trying to convince them that the Government is in fact providing houses for them or providing funds to repair their houses proves quite hard as some are illiterate and filling up the forms to verify land ownership becomes complicated due to documentation problems. But we try our best to assist them. The Government's challenge of war against poverty goes on for poverty does not identify which race, religion or political party you belong to. An Honour to Serve.

Comments

headsteadi said…
Noble effort from the relevant agencies. Completion takes a month is indeed a stretched cycle time for construction. Even in my line of work our construction cycle time take between 90 to 120 days. LOL. Hopefully, the structure could last long too ;)
Monyet King said…
Desmond, I like your last two sentences :

"The Government's challenge of war against poverty goes on for poverty does not identify which race, religion or political party you belong to. An Honour to Serve"

One can only hope that this rings true across the board. Not everyone is a nice fellow like you.

Cheers
I am still waiting for that bottle of wine
Headsteadi - we are expecting the KL Ministry to come along to inspect the house too. After Tan Sri Ting Pek Kiing built his hotel and flyover within a year and a few months I think it may be possible to build that fast

Dr. Bala - seeing those living in poverty and their children, one immediately forgets the difference that divide us - during my watch we will reach out or try to reach out with the limited resources available. Red wine is an available resources for us to relax and take a breather before we continue our work... :)
John Goh said…
improvement is needed for administrative works - less or simple documentation............