Datuk Seri Haji Ahmad Bin Haji Maslan, Deputy Minister of Finance and Member of the National Veterans Council, accompanied by Major General Zambery Jefry bin Haji Darus, Director General of the ATM Veterans Affairs Department (JHEV ATM), completed the Key Handover Ceremony of the ATM Veteran Housing Initiative at Johor State Level Year 2023, located at Lot 10823 Mukim Ayer Baloi, Pontian, Johor.
At the event, Datuk Seri Haji Ahmad Bin Haji Maslan signed the inauguration plate and handed over replica house keys to the 3 ATM veteran recipients, namely Bagindak bin Dg. Talisang, who is 80 years old, Siti Zabedah binti Mohd Ali, who is 65 years old, and veteran widow Norazizah binti Mohd Taff, who is 51 years old.
Also present at the event were representatives from Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB), ATM veteran associations around the state of Johor, and JHEV ATM management.
“The Ministry of Defence is always aware of the welfare of ATM veterans and cares about the housing issue of ATM veterans,” said JHEV ATM.
It was stated that the ATM veteran housing issue was discussed through the National Veterans Council (MVK). The ATM Veteran Housing Initiative Programme is one of the strategies of the Quality of Life Improvement initiative under MINDEF’s Strategic Plan, Core 7.
The strategy places emphasis on helping ATM veterans who have low incomes or are poor by providing a more conducive and comfortable place to live. It includes two scopes of work, namely building a new home and rehabilitating ATM veterans’ homes according to the conditions that have been set.
“The Ministry of Defence will continue to strive to find new initiatives and continue to make improvements to existing assistance schemes in an effort to empower and improve the quality of life of ATM veterans,” it further stated.
This programme is a close collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs ATM (JHEV ATM) and Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB).
SPNB created the Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) programme to assist people with a household income of less than RM3,000 who do not have a house or live in a dilapidated house but have land on which to build their own house.
ATM veterans can apply for Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR), where houses will be built on their own land at a lower cost than other housing projects.
Through this programme quota, ATM veterans will receive two levels of assistance; which are subsidies under the People Friendly House Scheme regulated by SPNB amounting to RM20,000.00 and the second level of JHEV ATM housing assistance amounting to RM65,000.00 in Peninsular Malaysia and RM75,000.00 in Sabah and Sarawak. While the ceiling cost of home improvement is RM17,000.00 per unit.
In 2023, the Ministry of Defence has allocated as much as RM5.7 million to cover the construction of 170 new houses and the renovation of 40 ATM Veteran houses.
The selection criteria for the ATM Veteran Housing Initiative Programme are open to ATM veterans or widows whose household income is below the established Poverty Line Income (PGK) table.
For the repair application, the house you live in has to be your own house or an inheritance and not a rented house.
The scope of repair assistance only involves the basic components of the house, such as the roof, walls, floor, and windows, which do not involve the original structure of the house.
For new construction applications, the applicant must not own a house or live in a house that is too dilapidated, unsafe to occupy, and uneconomical to repair and own their own land.
