Story and pix by Chan Lilian
THANKS to the Saujana Heights, Teluk Kumbar Joint Management Body (JMB) for the relentless pursuit of Tabung Penyelenggaraan 1 Malaysia (TP1M) funds and the commitment and dedication of Penang state exco for Housing and Town & Country Planning Jagdeep Singh Deo, money is coming in to assist the residents.
On Aug 8, Jagdeep visited Saujana Heights and handed over RM532,600 from the state government’s Housing Assistance Program of Penang, YES! (HAPPY!) to the JMB’s chairman, A. Joseph.
The amount will be used for the repair of the fire lift which has been out of order for 12 years.
In addition, painting can be done for Block E which has not been repainted since 1999, repairs to the water tank and reticulation system and repair of roofs.
TP1M is fund from Putrajaya.
Meanwhile, Penang through HAPPY!, is ever ready to top up the 10% and 30% portion of the residents of low-cost and low medium cost projects for critical works. By providing the HAPPY! funds, residents from these housings are not burdened to fork out the 10% and 30% for the repair works.
“When I heard about Penang’s HAPPY! Program to assist low-cost and low medium cost housing, I immediately put in the application. It has taken us two years to finally obtain the approval for TPIM and hence, today we get the money from HAPPY! TPIM funds will be given later,” Joseph said.
Another happy resident, Jaswinder Kaur, 58, told Buletin Mutiara how she had to endure climbing up her 18th floor flat when the lift was out of order.
“It was a daily struggle but now I am very happy that my Block E will even be repainted!” she said.
Saujana Heights is one of the few projects which received the funds from TP1M.
This caused Jagdeep to wonder.
“It is very unfortunate that out of 119 applications, so far only 14 projects have been approved which is less than 12%. Out of these, only three are in Pakatan Rakyat constituencies,” he said.
“The people shouldn’t be left suffering because of political leanings. As leaders, we must serve without favouring any sides and we must be sincere in helping all the people. That’s why, today I am here to present to the JMB of Saujana Heights a sum of money from Penang HAPPY (Housing Assisted Program of Penang, Yes!) to help them to repair and paint some of the blocks of flats,” Jagdeep said.