Squatters In Selangor Live In Style

07 Feb 2013

Modern dwellings to the poor people of Selangor in Malaysia have brought a smile to over 1,000 residents there. They have been squatters and the sudden development of three bed-room two- bathroom dwellings of 850 sq ft each is a dream come true for them.  The cost of less than a lakh ringgit is also to their liking. 

It was a challenge to the regional government to come up with such a housing plan within 2 years, and the government would be completing the houses by next month. The single-storey neatly constructed houses with lawns and all would fascinate any small family anywhere.

The housing plan is sure going to be the model for housing of the poor not only in Malaysia but many countries with squatter or slum population as well. 

One of the recipients, a 73-year-old housewife was overwhelmed when she was asked how she felt at the new housing opening ceremony recently. “I never expected that at my age. I would finally be able to afford a beautiful house like this,” she said.

The point is poor people all over the world have started depending on private builders or the governments  to find them housing. In the Selangor case, what was left abandoned by the private builders that the regional government had taken up and completed in style.