SHAH ALAM, 15 Apr: The Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, reminded everyone that state funds or reserves should be used with prudence in implementing State Government policies.

Although the reserves is seen as high, he said that the amount is actually still not enough to implement all welfare programmes.

He said that the State Government must be always careful, selective and responsible in using funds in implementing existing policies.

“For example, the Federal Government gives the BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid), spending over RM5 billion, but we cannot follow that method.

“Instead we have to do it responsibly and I think that is the intention of State Government policies,” he said at the State Assembly this morning.

He said this in reply to a supplementary question from the Assemblywoman of Taman Medan, Haniza Talha, regarding the State Government’s move to meet the demanding needs of affordable housing in Selangor.

Elaborating, Abdul Khalid (PKR-Port Klang) said that a total of 15,000 affordable housing units can be developed by the state government subsidiary company, Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS), while 30,000 more units will be developed by private developers like Sime Darby Property.

However, he admitted that the number of units is still not enough to meet the growing demand.

“The State Government is targeting for 80 percent of the people in Selangor to own their own homes, with the other 20 percent renting.

“So the State Government should think of some ways to achieve that goal, including taking the example of housing policies practices in developed countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany.

“But the effort requires substantial funds to implement,” he said.