TEMERLOH: One hundred and eighty-eight projects or 74 per cent of the 253 abandoned housing projects in peninsula Malaysia were revived between 2009 and April 30, with government funds amounting to RM250 million.
Urban well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the 188 projects involved 50,883 housing units and 34,293 buyers while the remaining 17 projects (4,475 units; 3,162 buyers) were being revived.
He added that the ministry was also making preliminary plans to rehabilitate 48 other projects (8,932 housing units; 6,082 buyers) to ensure that all 253 projects would be fully completed.
"We need developers that are really capable of helping the government to save these abandoned projects because the payment method is not the same as that for new housing projects. "The government only makes the payment after the project has obtained the Certificate of Fitness for Occupation (CFO), which meant that the developer needs to first fork out their own capital. We received many offers from developers but some withdrew after viewing the project sites," he said.
Noh said this at a press conference after attending the handing over of house keys and CFO at a rehabilitated private housing project in Taman Desa Bongsu, Lanchang, here.
He said the government was committed to reviving all abandoned projects, particularly low and medium-cost to allow the people to have their own home.
In another development, Noh said the ministry had sent an application to build 30 People''s Housing Projects (PPR) to the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister''s Department for consideration in the 2018 budget, including a project in Temerloh involving 500 units.
On the Taman Desa Bongsu project, he said it was scheduled to be completed in 2003 but confirmed as abandoned on Oct 27, 2014 due to financial problems faced by the original developer, Koperasi Melayu Nusantara Sdn Bhd (Komena), which was then deregistered by the Registrar of Cooperatives Malaysia on July 30, 2007.
"The government took the initiative to revive the project, which involved 96 houses using government allocation of RM14.7 million, including goods and services tax (GST), which is equivalent to RM153,125 per unit, compared to the original price of the house, which was between RM58,000 and RM78,000 per unit.
The appointment of developer, YYM Builders Sdn Bhd was made on 13 July, 2015 and the government paid special attention to the project as the majority of the buyers were former soldiers, in appreciation of their service," he said.
On the dispute with the Selangor state government on the takeover of the management of Sungai Lembah Subang 1 PPR, Noh said the Cabinet decided that the ministry should proceed with the acquisition.
He said based on the decision, his ministry was preparing a new lease agreement and all transactions were expected to continue in the near future. - Bernama