Agong hands over keys to recipients of houses contributed by Al-Sultan Abdullah Foundation

His Majesty , who was accompanied by the Regent of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, handed over the keys to four recipients, each in Kampung Lechar, Kampung Temau, Kampung Sungai Sia and Kampung Ulu Sungai, here, whose houses were badly damaged during the floods in the state late last year and early this year.

In his speech, Al-Sultan Abdullah advised the recipients to care for their houses and not sell them.

"We will make it pre-requisite for the recipients to get the permission of the district officer to sell the house...it is not to cause inconvenience, but to safeguard the interest of the land owners.

"There is no loan to be paid (by the recipients) because everything is sponsored...just stay in the house, take of the your children and parents," said His Majesty who then spent some time to chat with the house recipients.

Earlier, Al-Sultan Abdullah was briefed on the houses by the Pahang Public Works director Datuk Hafizah Zakaria, who said that the houses, measuring 960 sq ft, had three rooms, two toilets, a dining hall and equipped with furniture.

He said the houses took six months to build.

One of the recipients, Azrul Hisham Abd Aziz,30, of Kampung Sungai Sia, whose house was badly damaged in the floods early this year, he did not expect to be among the recipients of the YASA houses.

After the floods, he said, his father, Abd Aziz Md Shor,62, (rpt:Md Shor) and mother, Minah Mat,52, as well as a sister, Siti Rozaimah,24,had been staying at a relative's house.

"Alhamdulillah, we now get to move into our new house. It is not easy to get a house like this, which has everything including furniture.

"We thank His Majesty for his concern in providing us the house. It means a lot to us," he added.

Another recipient, Ab Holik (rpt:Holik) Hasan,60, regarded himself and his family as the "selected ones" in having received a house contributed by YASA.

His family had been staying in a small hut, which he had built, after their house was destroyed in the flood.