State housing committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo acknowledged the recent announcement of a RM200 million allocation under the 1Malaysia Maintenance Fund (TP1M), but said the government should first look into the backlog of applications.
He said in Penang, there were 114 pending TP1M applications, most of which had been delayed since 2012.
He added that other states and territories such as Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sarawak, Putrajaya and Labuan had reportedly not received their due funding either.
TP1M is a federal government programme which provides funding for upgrade and repair works at low-cost and low-medium cost flats or apartments. The repairs include the maintenance of lifts and repainting of blocks, among others.
Under the programme, the government funds 90% of the project and the remainder is borne by the respective joint-management bodies or management corporations.
In Penang, the state government tops up the remaining amount under its special assistance programme called “Happy”.
Speaking at a press conference today, Jagdeep said the federal government should explain to the people of Penang why not even one application from the state had been approved in the past two years, from 2016 to 2017.
“Since 2012, Penang has sent 143 applications for TP1M, of which only 29 were approved to date.
“It is frightening to note that the disbursement of funds from TP1M has been steadily increasing from the years 2013 (RM32.82 million); 2014 (RM46.49 million) and 2015 (RM50.73 million),” he said.
According to Local Government, Urban Wellbeing and Housing Deputy Minister Halimah Mohamed Sadique, RM395 million has been disbursed under TP1M, benefitting 375,000 people since 2014.
She was reported in The Star today as saying maintenance works had been carried out on some 80,000 private and government-owned flats.
Jagdeep said he hoped Halimah would look into the applications from Penang and speed up the funding process.