KUALA LUMPUR, 14 JULY – Ajiya Berhad, a Bursa Malaysia Main Market listed company involved in the manufacturing and supply of building materials used in the construction industry, is pleased to announce that the Company has today entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) to adopt Ajiya Green Integrated Building Solutions (AGIBS) for the development of housing projects under SPNB Group.
SPNB is a company owned by the Malaysian Government, under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance (“MOF Inc”). It is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and providing affordable accommodations to meet the housing requirement of the Malaysian public in the lower and middle-income group.
A filing with Bursa Malaysia today shows that, Ajiya will supply its AGIBS for the housing projects/programmes under SPNB, which include SPNB Aspirasi Sdn Bhd (Project Development of Rumah Aspirasi Rakyat), SPNB Idaman Sdn Bhd (Project Development of Rumah Idaman Rakyat), SPNB Mesra Sdn Bhd (Housing Programme known as Rumah Generasi Baharu Felda). Additionally, Ajiya will also appoint and/or engage SPNB Edar Sdn Bhd as its exclusive supplier for the building materials for the housing projects as mentioned above.
According to SPNB Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Ahmad Azizi bin Hj Ali, “Through this collaboration, we hope to build a strong strategic alliance with Ajiya to implement AGIBS in the development of housing projects under SPNB group. The implementation of IBS system in our projects will improve deliverables of the product to the consumers; improve sustainable environment and quality of the product development.”
After the signing ceremony, Ajiya Berhad Managing Director Dato Chan Wah Kiang said: “The undersupply of affordable houses is an imperative issue in Malaysia, we are excited to work together with SPNB to address this matter. Building affordable homes with Industrialised Building System (“IBS”) is the trend going forward. AGIBS is different from other majority IBS in town as AGIBS is a fully-integrated IBS comprising the Company’s whole series of housing components required to build a house, whereas the others are mostly focusing on a single component.”
“We have received a positive indication from SPNB that the maiden project to kick off will be the Rumah Generasi Baharu Felda comprising 20,000 houses, which is expected to begin construction by the end of this year or early next year. This will further enhance the sustainability of the Company by having a diverse income base,” Dato Chan added.
AGIBS is a patented Industrialised Building System (“IBS”) that provides the construction industry with sustainable and fully-integrated building solutions to overcome manpower constraint, shorten construction time and reduce operating costs. It comprises of 4 to 8 series of housing components, namely Light Weight Metal Wall Frames, Metal Roofing & Awning, Metal Light Weight Roof Trusses, Metal Doors & Windows Frames, Metal Structural Floor Decking, Metal Ceilings Metal Louvres & Sunshades and Safety Glass & Sash.
With the adoption of AGIBS, the construction and delivery time are also greatly reduced as average conventional housing project usually takes up to 24 months of the construction period, whereas AGIBS will only take 8 months to complete. Dato Chan said: “Going forward, it is our intention to expand the offering of AGIBS to other affordable housing projects, regardless of public- or private sector-driven developments. This is because AGIBS is capable of eradicating the most pressing issue faced by the industry – manpower shortage as the components can be mass produced in a factory environment rather than on-site and can be assembled by lighter equipment rather than heavy machinery”.