SEREMBAN: Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin today said the unfinished 1Malaysia People’s Housing Scheme (PR1MA) project in Rantau here will be completed by May 2020.
She said the project, which should have been completed by Jan 31 this year, was discontinued after the appointed contractor of the affordable homes project ran into financial difficulties.
“The ministry has identified a new contractor and they will start work at the construction site as soon as possible. The project will be completed 16 months after the initial completion date.
”I will personally see to it that the project is continued,” she said during a press conference at Bandar Sri Sendayan in Rantau here.
Zuraida is scheduled to conduct a visit to the construction site, located at Bandar Ekar in Rantau, at 4pm today.
She, however, admitted there was an outstanding debt of RM13 million owed to the contractor by Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia.
“I think RM13 million is not a big amount and the contractor should have been able to proceed with the project. But the ministry is taking proactive measures by appointing a credible contractor to complete it.”
There are a total of 766 homes under this project, including 210 single storey houses and 566 double story houses.
“A total of 620 units have been snapped up and I think the home owners led a protest yesterday (April 6) because they were being burdened by the loan repayments,” she added.
On Saturday, a group of frustrated house buyers called on the government to restart the project, which costs RM171 million.
The housing project, which is 56 per cent complete, had been left abandoned since September last year.
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