Housing Development Corp to introduce new loan payment methods to resolve repayment arrears

KUCHING (July 24): The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) will introduce new loan payment methods following reports of repayment arrears, said its chairman Abdul Yakub Arbi.

He was cited as saying in a Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) report on Tuesday that in Mukah, the repayment arrears recorded as of July this year is RM477,189.

He said that as such, the delinquency rate is 5.96 per cent of the total loan amount of RM13.755 million, which covers 20 longhouses in Mukah.

Abdul Yakub mentioned these in a statement issued by HDC following a HDC Longhouse Loan Scheme Dialogue Programme held with community leaders and heads of longhouses in Mukah last Friday.

The HDC Dialogue was to raise awareness of loan repayments, introduce new loan payment methods, promote the loan scheme, and share information about the fire insurance facilities provided by the corporation.

Also present at the programme were the Tellian assemblyman Royston Valentine, and HDC chief executive officer Fathi Hambali.

Meanwhile, HDC in the statement said the Longhouse Loan Scheme was introduced in 1978, with funding provided by the state government and federal government from 1978 to 2006.

From 2007 to 2024, the scheme has been funded through the Loan Scheme Trust Fund from both the federal and state governments.

To date, a total of 24,645 units have been constructed, covering 1,133 longhouse projects, with loans amounting to RM505.94 million.