THE Housing and Local Government Ministry has allocated RM80 million this year for community activities as well as infrastructure development in Chinese new villages in Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said RM60 million was for community activities such as talks and gotong-royong, while the rest was for personal loans to be made available for village residents via Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN).

“We have an allocation of RM20 million for those who want to venture into business, build a house or for other personal needs… they can apply and the approval is at the ministry level and the money is issued by BSN,” she said.

Zuraida said this to reporters after handing over letters of appointment to chairmen of the federal new village development and security committees (JPKKP) at her ministry in Putrajaya today.

At the ceremony, 109 chairmen of new villages from Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur received letters of appointment for a year effective September 1.

Zuraida said those appointed should actively implement community programmes to create a cohesive society in addition to managing the welfare of the people.

“Each JPKKP chairman is given an allocation of up to RM100,000 to carry out programmes in the villages and they need to convey the government’s policy with materials that can be taken from the ministry,” she said.

JPKKP chairmen can also help by constantly disseminating health practices that need to be implemented, especially now with the country battling the Covid-19 pandemic, she said. – Bernama, September 22, 2020.