The government is in the final phase of conducting a feasibility study on building a bridge connecting Labuan to mainland Borneo, especially Sabah.

Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said his ministry and the Works Ministry was preparing a joint-Cabinet paper to obtain approval for the "Request for Proposal" (RFP) to build the bridge.

"... Labuan has a very strategic location and it can be raised to an even higher level in line with its status as part of the Federal Territories (FT)," he said when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Commenting on the public housing policy in Kuala Lumpur, Annuar said the ministry had asked that the policy specifically for Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) be re-drafted for more thorough planning.

He said the ministry aimed to build 80,000 units of affordable houses in FT and hoped to complete them by 2028.

"As of June, the development order for a total of 57,799 units for 93 projects had been issued for the building of houses in FT, with 54,111 units in Kuala Lumpur, 2,908 units in Putrajaya and 780 units in Labuan.

"Of the total, 15,431 units in 26 projects, or more than 24 per cent, have been completed while 27,332 units in 37 projects are still under construction," he said.

Annuar also said that as of June 30, there were 35,141 registered and active applicants under the DBKL e-housing system and, of that total, 1,080 of them have been approved.

Meanwhile, Annuar also assured that Taman Tugu would be gazetted to remain as a public park.

-- BERNAMA