Thursday, March 21, 2013

State: We’ve provided cheap housing


THE Penang Government has denied claims that it did not provide affordable housing for the people, saying that 14,702 low-cost (LC) and low middle-cost (LMC) units were built between March 2008 and last July.
State Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said these units in 47 projects statewide received the certificate of occupancy issued by the Penang Municipal Council and Seberang Prai Municipal Council.
“At the same time, 12,246 LC and LMC units have also been granted planning approval.”
He was responding to the simultaneous demonstrations on Saturday organised under the Sekretariat Rakyat Bersatu Pulau Pinang umbrella in Jelutong, Teluk Kumbar, Permatang Pauh, Kepala Batas, Tasek Gelugor and several other areas to highlight their unhappiness over Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s failure to build affordable houses in the state.
Wong added that the state government had also allocated RM500mil for the construction of 19,172 units of affordable housing in the state.
“Registration for 13,320 affordable housing units in Jalan S.P. Chelliah and Batu Kawan, which was launched last month, has attracted more than 17,000 applicants.
“The state government also restored abandoned and neglected houses in the state which were left vacant for over a decade.
“We repaired 170 units in Rifle Range, which were originally army quarters and left vacant in early 2000.
“We then rented them out to the poor for RM90 a month,” he said in a statement yesterday. - The Star

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