Chief Minister, Y.A.B Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Musa Haji Aman, today officiates the PR1MA Residency housing project at Woodford Estate, Beaufort town. This affordable housing project, which is developed and constructed by local Bumiputera Property Developer, Gaya Belian Sdn. Bhd., comprises 620 gated units that are fitted with state-of-the-art modern facilities and are built using sustainable Industrial Building System (IBS) interlocking blocks technology.

Also present at the officiating ceremony are Gaya Belian's CEO and Managing Director, Puan Marinah Harris Embiricos, Datin Norashikin Abdullah Shan, Corporate Communications Vice President of Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia, as well as a representative from marcus evans Malaysia.

This PR1MA housing project is yet another initiative by the government to demonstrate its commitment in delivering quality and affordable housing facilities for the people of Sabah. Developed by built by Gaya Belian Sdn. Bhd., the Woodford Estate project is also the first of such project done by a Sabahan Bumiputera property developer.

The uniqueness of this housing project is the utilisation of the IBS interlocking blocks technology as the main building block, which is manufactured using local clay, making it a highly sustainable building material. In addition to being aesthetically-pleasing to the eyes, the IBS building material also gives a cooling effect inside the house, thus helping residents to save up on their electricity bills, as less cooling is required. Most importantly, the IBS technology also ensures that the houses will be able to withstand dangerous seismic waves.

In addition to the housing project, Gaya Belian has also initiated an IBS building block-manufacturing factory based in Beaufort. This factory has succeeded in providing employment opportunity for the local youth in the Beaufort area, while also equipping them with the necessary skill training.

In his speech, Musa expresses his pride in Gaya Belian's accomplishment as the first Bumiputera Sabah property developer to introduce an environmentally sustainable technology in building high-quality, affordable houses.

"I strongly urge other developers and contractors to cooperate with the government sector in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme to work towards a more sustainable initiative together" says Musa.

In the same way, he also urges these developers and contractors to create more community-based economic engines that will generate more employment and skill-acquisition opportunities for the local people. This will help elevate the socioeconomic status of the local community as a whole and help prevent mass youth emigration to bigger cities, such as Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, or even Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru in search of greener pastures.

In one of his most recent statements, Local Government and Housing Minister, Datuk Hajiji Noor has also endorsed the utilisation of IBS technology for all the up and coming housing projects in Sabah. It is stated in the 2033 Sabah Structural Plan that by 2030, approximately 400,000 units of houses will have to be built to accommodate the expanding population in the state.