KOTA KINABALU: The Housing and Urban Development Board (LPPB) chairman Datuk Masiung Banah has expressed concern about the lack of government enforcement action against the current increase in the price of building materials.

The Kuamut Assemblyman said that the situation could affect the property market in Sabah, causing it to rise between 10 and 15 per cent.

Masiung said that the already expensive property market in the state is expected to increase in the second quarter of this year due to the new diesel pricing in Peninsular Malaysia.

According to him, the increase in the price of raw materials is influenced by the sentiment of increased transport costs in the real estate sector, which is not entitled to subsidised diesel.

"The price of building materials in Peninsular Malaysia has increased by 3 to 5 per cent. Shipping to Sabah by sea will result in even higher prices," he said in a statement today.

Masiung is currently on a three-day working visit to Kuala Lumpur.

He explained that the logistics cost involving the process of changing sea vessels in Port Klang also contributes to the increase in the price of raw materials.

The construction materials cost index released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) in the middle of last month showed that the price of plywood, iron, and cement recorded an increase of up to 1.7 per cent.

Masiung noted that transportation costs for Sabah and Labuan are higher than in Peninsular Malaysia, leading to further increases in the price of raw materials in Sabah's construction sector.

He said that although the MADANI Government had assured that the prices of raw materials in Sabah and Sarawak would not rise due to the targeted diesel subsidy, the current situation shows that the prices of goods are not under control.

Masiung urged the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry not only to monitor the situation but to go down to the field to track every complaint.