Pakatan housing policy wrong

The Penang government should build more affordable houses on the island instead of the mainland.

Wong Mun Hoe, the BN coordinator for Pantai Jerejak state constituency, said Chief Minister Lim Guang Eng should build more affordable houses on the island where the demand is high among the urban poor.

He was referring to Lim’s administration plan to build 11,800 low and low-medium cost houses in Batu Kawan under Seberang Perai Tengah (SPT) district.

“The state should build more affordable houses on the island,” Wong told press conference at BN state office here today.

Also present were BN Air Itam constituency coordinator Jackson Teoh Hang Chong and state Gerakan local government bureau head Teh Leong Meng.

He also referred to a recent press statement by state executive councillor in charge of town and country planning, housing and arts portfolios, Wong Hon Wai, who told vernacular press that mainland residents were not interested in low-cost units.

Hon Wai said most of low-cost rental units built did not attract many takers, as only 30 or 26.3% from 114 units were taken up.

He also revealed that from 26,000 applicants for low-rental public houses, 17,000 were from the island’s north-east district while SPT had only 1,499 applicants.

“This proved that more people needed affordable houses on the island,” noted BN’s Wong, adding that Hon Wai statement confirmed that the DAP-helmed state government did not have any housing policy.

In any case, if based on Hon Wai facts and figures, Wong said 8,697 units would be taken up in Batu Kawan.

“What will the state government do with the balance 3,103 units? Leave them idle, vacant, turn them into storage or auction them?” asked Wong, who is also a state Gerakan vice-chairman.

He reminded Lim that it was a government’s social responsibility to build enough and affordable houses to cater to the needs of all citizens.

He said housing problem was among three major problems faced by Penangites today under the current Pakatan government.

The other two were traffic congestion and lack of economic vision. -FMT