THE Penang government is hoping that the new Federal Government will deliver the federal Malaysia Home Maintenance Fund (TPPM) that had been approved by the Housing Ministry under the previous Pakatan Harapan administration.
State Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said although there is a political change in the country, the state is banking on the recent announcement made by new Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that he is a prime minister for all Malaysians.
He said out of the 137 applications Penang submitted to the ministry for People’s Housing Project (PPR) and TPPM, 39 had been approved while 98 have yet to be approved.
“In Penang, it’s business as usual – just as what the Chief Minister (Chow Kon Yeow) had said yesterday. We don’t expect special treatment but we certainly expect fair treatment.
“So, the 39 applications that have been approved at RM23 million should proceed because they had been officially approved. In fact, we have started work by calling for tenders and appointing contractors,” Jagdeep told a press conference in Komtar today after chairing the state’s Housing Committee meeting earlier.
“We’ll ask them to consider the balance of 98 applications that would incur a total cost of RM78 million.”
He said he had directed the state Housing Department to write to the Housing Ministry on the matter after the Cabinet has been named by Muhyiddin.
Jagdeep also said they would like to know the status and feedback of other related housing projects from the ministry, like the People’s Housing Project (PPR), Rent to Own (RTO) projects, federal affordable housing scheme, Malaysia Civil Servants Housing Project (PPAM) and urban regeneration projects.
Looking back, he said there was positive development in the last 22 months when Pakatan Harapan was in power where housing was concerned in relations to their applications for certain funding from the Federal Government.
The state, he said, had also identified five plots of land in Penang (one plot in each district) totalling 72 acres for the PPR projects.
“Even a technical visit to one of the plots in Jelutong on the island had been conducted,” Jagdeep said.
“Affordable housing is a fundamental right of all humans. Penangites, in particular, pay a big sum of tax of around RM6 billion to RM7 billion.”
Now in limbo is also the RM10 billion that would be set aside for RTO housing scheme under Budget 2020 as announced by former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
For urban regeneration projects, Jagdeep said they are awaiting feedback from the federal level, especially on the Strata Act, but stressed that whatever the outcome, the state must move forward.
Also present at the press conference were assemblymen Lim Siew Khim (Sungai Pinang) Teh Lai Heng (Komtar), Daniel Gooi Zi Sen (Pengkalan Kota), Ong Ah Teong (Batu Lancang), and state Housing Department director ‘Ainul Fadhilah Samsudi.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Chan Kok Kuan