SEREMBAN: Some 65 Negri Sembilan-born B40 individuals who have their own plots of land will be able to apply for interest-free loans and subsidies from the state government to build their own houses, says Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun.

       The Mentri Besar said the state government would continue with the initiative known as Rumah Harapan Rakyat for the second year running to help those who had land but were unable to secure loans to build their own houses.

       "Each eligible applicant will be entitled to RM78,000 of which RM70,000 will be the interest-free loan and the remaining RM8,000, a subsidy from the state government.

       "The applicant, preferably married, will be allowed to pay between RM250 and RM300 a month until the whole loan amount is paid up," he told reporters after chairing the state exco meeting at Wisma Negri.

       Aminuddin said those who wish to apply for the facility can do so within two months from Feb 15.

       He said the state government, through the Negri Sembilan Development Corporation (PKNNS), would appoint contractors to build these houses and has set aside RM5mil for the initiative.

       Each house, measuring 1,000 sq feet in size, would have three rooms and two bathrooms.

       Apart from helping more people own houses, the move was also to encourage those living in rural areas, especially traditional villages, to stay put, he said.

       Amimuddin said the state government had received an overwhelming response when the Rumah Harapan Rakyat programme was launched last year.

       Then, it approved the construction of 70 such houses worth RM65,000 each. Each applicant was given a RM5,000 subsidy.

       "The houses are in various stages of construction and some would even be completed before the coming Hari Raya," he said.

       On a separate matter, Aminuddin said some new residential and commercial areas in the state had foreign names as these were based on their previous names.

       Most of these areas were previously estates and opened decades ago.

       "Personally, I also prefer local names such as Teratai or Mawar but some developers prefer to use the old names to allow locals to relate to the area and for commercial reasons.

       "As long as the names do not sound weird, we have no problems with that," he said adding that some towns such as Port Dickson, still retained their old name.