The Penang government is asking Putrajaya what has happened to the RM2.5 billion in Perbadanan Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) housing approved for Penang.
State housing exco Jagdeep Singh Deo said that figure was just the minimum value of the 25,000 houses expected to be built, if each house cost RM100,000.
However, he said if the houses were valued at RM400,000 each, then the total value would be close to RM10 billion.
“That is how massive (the development) we have that has been sidelined,” he said, citing an announcement by the National Housing Council in a meeting in August this year that PR1MA had approved 154,000 affordable homes.
“Out of that, Penang has nearly 25,000 homes, the highest number approved. When are we getting them and where will they be built? We only have the numbers but we don’t know where they will be.
“We hope Minister for Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan can reply as soon as possible with the details,” he told a press conference at his office this morning.
Jagdeep said there was no denying this because he had the minutes of the meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“Just tell us whether the houses are coming to Penang or not,” he said.
Dated today, Jagdeep’s letter also enquired how many houses Penang would receive under the People’s Housing Project (PPR) and whether Penang civil servants would also benefit from the Perumahan Penjawat Awam 1Malaysia (PPA1M) programme.
Putrajaya had previously announced that it had set aside RM863 million to build PPR units and, under the housing programme for civil servants, 100,000 homes of between RM90,000 and RM300,000 would be built by 2018.
“Penang also has civil servants, so please do not treat them like stepchildren,” Jagdeep said in a press conference today at his Komtar office. - BY LOOI SUE-CHERN (The Malaysian Insider)
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