The Housing and Local Government Ministry asked the Selangor government to immediately investigate what could be irregularities in the allocation of low-cost flats by housing developers in the state.
Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said though the ministry had not received any complaint from the public on the matter, it is up to the Selangor government and its local authority to resolve the issue of low-cost houses built for the poor that were instead taken up by Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) staff.
“If there is any abuse, it must be investigated whether the fault is on the part of the state government of the local authority,” he said.
“The Housing and Local Government Ministry is not involved in the private low-cost units because it is a private development which is supposed to be sold to qualified buyers determined by the state government or the local authority,” said Kong after inspecting the low-cost flats built by the ministry in Subang and Bukit Jalil today.
The minister was commenting on a report in theSun on Friday that 500 employees of the MBPJ owned low-cost flats in Petaling Jaya when they were ineligible for such housing.
Yesterday, the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia (Rehda) president Datuk Ng Seing Liong had also lamented that the alleged abuse had undermined the spirit of low-cost housing scheme.
Ng also said the abuse made a mockery of developers’ efforts to fulfil social obligations imposed by the government as the industry players had worked hard to cross-subsidize cheap homes to help achieve the nation’s social agenda.
“We have shouldered such a task as required by the government despite rising costs throughout the years ... only to have profiteering government servants to make use of this system for their own ends,” he lamented.
On the low-cost houses built by the ministry, Kong explained that there are two types - for renting and for sale (currently only in Pahang).
“However, we have started an exercise for the Federal Territories as the government has decided to sell the low-cost houses to existing tenants.
“The Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry and DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) have extended the form to the tenants and I understand that about 27,000 tenants have indicated intention to buy, while another 4,000 say they intend to continue renting the houses,” he said, adding that there was no chance of abuse as only qualified tenants are allowed to rent the houses.
