'NEW MINISTRY MUST TACKLE SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN COMPREHENSIVE MANNER'

'NEW MINISTRY MUST TACKLE SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN COMPREHENSIVE MANNER' - NST 14TH MAY 2013

KUALA LUMPUR: The new ministry to be set up to tackle socio-economic issues in urban areas should function in a more comprehensive manner than what the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry can offer.

Academicians and youth leaders opined that the objective to provide quality public housing to the young generation in urban areas could be implemented in an easy and structured manner if the government combined the functions of the proposed new ministry with the ministry that was once led by Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin.

They said replacing the word 'Federal Territories' with more suitable words would give a clearer picture of the more comprehensive roles that would be played by the new ministry.

"If the motive of its establishment is to empower the young generation to own a house in urban areas, then the change in the name of the ministry will inspire the young people to believe that the government is always concerned about the young people nationwide," said Dr. Amini Amir Abdullah of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

He said this in response to the Barisan Nasional's (BN) promise to set up a new ministry to reflect the urban shift in the country's demographic pattern.

Under the BN manifesto launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on April 6, it was said that the move was vital as over 70 per cent of the country's population were living in urban areas.

In a recent interview with Bernama, Amini Amir said through the new ministry, the government could balance the population pattern in urban areas nationwide, and not only limited to Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan as focused by the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry.

He said the combination of the two ministries would also lead to a major transformation to the population pattern in urban areas nationwide, which was currently monopolised by a certain race.

Extreme focus given by the existing ministry on efforts to enable low-income earners to own a house in urban areas should be reviewed by the new ministry as the middle-class Malays in the urban areas also need the same attention, he said.

Apart from preparing basic infrastructure, such as police station, clinic, hospital, recreational area, houses of worship and commercial centre, he said the construction of public housing should also be considered in areas where public transportation and educational centres had been made available. Amini Amir also named Raja Nong Chik as the most appropriate candidate to lead the new ministry.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Youth Council president Mohamed Maliki Mohamed Rapiee said the new ministry should be able to function in a more comprehensive manner to prevent migration of young people to urban areas. He said this was not only vital to balance the population pattern, but to ensure that the construction of public housing should not focus in major towns, but also must be expanded to suburban areas. "The new ministry should also give focus on balancing the population in certain areas to prevent racial monopoly," he said.

To fulfill the young people's aspiration to own a house, Mohamed Maliki proposed that the price of the houses for them be fixed between RM200,000 and RM250,000, and that the new ministry should come out with a special mechanism to facilitate bank loans. On the candidate to lead the new ministry, Mohamed Maliki said it was hoped that the chosen individual was capable of representing the aspiration of all and that it would be an action-oriented person. "Apart from being an expert in economy and town planning, the individual must be brave enough to make decision when dealing with developers, financial institutions and town planners.. these are the criteria of a minister that the young people look for," he added. -- BERNAMA