Perak offers land to retired soldiers and cops

IPOH: The Perak government is offering land in the state to 7,000 retired soldiers and policemen to build their homes.

“We hope other states will follow us as a show of appreciation to the ex-servicemen and former policemen.

“They deserved to be given assistance and recognition for their selfless contributions,” Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir told reporters after opening the 24th conference of the Perak chapter of the Malaysian Ex-Servicemen Association here Sunday.

He said the state government was discussing with the association and the army cooperatives to nominate deserving candidates to receive the land under the planned RPT Perwira project.

“Priority would be given to those from a poor background and have yet to own a house,” he said, adding the state government would find suitable sites for the programme.

Dr Zambry said, however, there was some 250ha of land available in 10 districts for the planned scheme.

The mentri besar said the programme would start off with 3,700 lots in the first phase. The second phase would offer the remaining 3,300 lots.

The state government would charge a minimum premium of RM500 on the land, which is much lower than the normal rate of RM3,000