Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Thursday launched the first phase of the Putrajaya 1Malaysia Civil Servants' Housing Programme (PPA1M) involving the construction of 1,256 housing units at Precinct 17 and 256 units at Precinct 11, here.

It is the initial project under the PPA1M Putrajaya programme, which will offer more than 10,336 units of quality and affordable homes specifically for civil servants residing within the country's federal administration centre.

Najib said that as an administration that cared for the needs of the masses, the government moved in tandem with the pulse of the people in understanding their requirements, and in Putrajaya, where the majority of the residents were civil servants, comfortable and affordable homes had always been the centre of attention.

He said the residential units launched today would take only about 18 months for completion, and its special feature was that buyers need not pay progress payment but merely a minimum of RM2,000 as initial payment while subsequent instalments would only be paid as soon the housing units were handed over to the buyers.

"Where can you find another government that implements this (programme)?" he said at the launching of the PPA1M Putrajaya, at Precinct 17, here.