ONLY five per cent of the Sultanate's remaining "unconstrained land area" - either not already developed or already marked for preservation - can be used for development, while the total number of applicants for Rancangan Perumahan Negara (National Housing Programme) and Skim Tanah Kurnia Rakyat Jati (Landless Indigenous Citizens Housing Scheme) is expected to double by 2012.

The crucial point was made by Minister of Development Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdullah Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar at yesterday's ground-breaking ceremony for the new Kampung Tanah Jambu National Housing Scheme.

He said that there is currently only approximately 28,825 hectares (288.25 square kilometres) of Brunei's land area left that can be used for the country's development, such as industry and housing.

Brunei's total land area is 5,765 square kilometres, or 576,500 hectares.

"So far, the nation's housing scheme requires 5,000 hectares of land, which is (about) 17 per cent of the land available," he said. "This shows the need for us to use land more wisely."

The minister explained that some housing developments in Brunei right now are "land-hungry development" requiring large areas of land.

"A development plan that is less 'land-hungry' has to be prepared with more creativity," he said, adding that the demand for government housing will always grow.

According to the minister, a total of 11,175 applicants have already received either their houses or land lots since the National Housing Programme and Landless Indigenous Citizens Housing Scheme was introduced. However, 17,500 applicants are still on the waiting list.

"It is estimated that the waiting list will reach more than 30,000 applicants by 2012," he said, adding that only 16,000 houses built on 3,000 hectares are expected to be completed by that time.

"From this statistics, we can see that preparing enough houses to cope with the demand and need is a big challenge.

There is a big gap between house production and the number of applicants, translating to a lengthy waiting period," he added.

However, the minister said that a number of changes has been made to help facilitate the process.

This included the realignment and restructuring of housing policies to ensure more balanced and sustainable development, while accommodating the nation's housing needs, resulting in a more vibrant housing industry.

"We want to encourage private home building and reduce dependency on government-prepared housing as well as increasing house production by testing existing procurement systems, concepts and technologies for faster construction in order to reduce the waiting time, which right now can be as long as 17 to 20 years," said Pehin Dato Hj Abdullah.

The minister also took the opportunity to inform attendees at the ground-breaking event about some of the issues and challenges currently faced by people living in urban areas, such as overcrowding, decreasing resources, food security, climate change and an unstable global economy. "Even though our country is developing rapidly, we still have not felt the problems of urbanisation faced by many countries. However, some problems are already starting to surface, so we will have to be wary," he said.

He also said that there has to be more participation and cooperation by all levels of community, including the private sector and developers, to ensure that planning efforts were more steady and fair.

"It is known that the priorities of the private sector and developers might differ with the needs of the public," said Pehin Dato Hj Abdullah.

"We must pay attention to this matter and hope that there will be a convergence where the priorities of all parties, particularly the public, will be addressed," he added.

The Brunei Times