In response to a report in the New Straits Times, state housing and town and country planning committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said there were 75,631 units of low cost, low-medium cost and affordable housing in various stages of completion.
He said of these, 25,555 units had already been delivered and 19,828 units were being built while 29,978 units of affordable housing would be built.
“This is opposed to the miserable performance by the Barisan Nasional government during the period of 1999 to 2007, where only 5,154 units of low and low-medium cost housing were delivered.
“This is unacceptable, especially since the prime minister’s statement in 2013 stated that some 9,999 units of affordable housing under their affordable housing programme would be built in the constituencies of Air Itam and Air Putih. To date, they have not materialised.
“This is made worse by the indisputable fact that the federal government has failed to physically complete even one PR1MA affordable housing unit under their affordable housing scheme in Penang,” he said in a statement.
Jagdeep was commenting on the report in the New Straits Times today which quoted Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Teng Chang Yeow as saying that the state government had broken 51 promises since it came to power in 2008.
Among these, Teng said, was the state government’s failure to develop an underground train system and 20,000 affordable homes in Bandar Cassia, Batu Kawan, reintroduce tram services and provide a monorail system connecting the island and mainland.
Teng had said Penangites should take note of these empty promises and give BN a chance in the 14th general election (GE14).
“Its success story is mainly on the sale of state land apart from being more pro-developer instead of defending the welfare of the people.
“The state continues to be plagued by issues, such as traffic congestion, floods, landslides, and failure of the people to own homes,” he had said.
On the issue of affordable housing in Batu Kawan, Jagdeep said the state government was happy to announce the completion of the first phase of its affordable housing project comprising 520 units of low-medium cost and affordable housing.
He said the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) was obtained on Feb 22.
He also expressed hope that the strata titles would be issued as soon as possible with the assistance of the federal government as this was under its jurisdiction.
“We will also continue with the development of the remaining phases in the interest of Penangites.
“Clearly, the report by the New Straits Times where my portfolio issues on housing is concerned is very misleading and ought to be corrected.
“The Penang government will continue to ensure and prioritise the provision of adequate affordable housing, including low and low-medium cost for Penangites as BN has clearly failed to do so.”