KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — The Housing and Local Government Ministry today announced a RM100 million loan scheme for Chinese new villagers.

“This scheme consists of three components — upgrading and repair of houses, financial aid to start businesses in the new village and for the payment of land premiums to authorities,” Minister for Housing and Local Government Datuk Chor Chee Heung (picture) said today.

“We treat this as a soft loan to help and uplift the lives of new villagers. The interest rate is four per cent per annum on monthly rest,” he added.

The ministry will be working closely with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) for this initiative and Chor urged new village applicants to get forms from village officers, or any BSN officers and branches.

“To submit, applicants must go to the state's main BSN branch. There are 45 main branches in the peninsula. Loan approval will usually take between seven and 21 days.

“The loan per applicant will be between RM1,000 and RM10,000. If it is above RM10,000 villagers still can borrow, but it is seldom the extension of lease exceeds RM10,000,” said Chor, who is also MP for Alor Star.

He added that applicants must be new village house owners between the minimum age of 21 and maximum 63.

Chor also said no specific collateral is required for loans for housing repairs.

“Maybe BSN will ask for a title deed but this is only for security. If we find the applicant has insufficient funds, a family member can be named as guarantor,” he said.

Chor said the Chinese population in new villages used to stand at 60 per cent but is now much less due to migration to the city.

The allocated RM100 million will be distributed over the next five years.