Gan presses for abolition of affordable housing quota to BN parties

The Johor opposition again called for the abolition of an affordable housing quota that is reserved for applications through BN political parties.

The state opposition leader Gan Peck Cheng said the system, known as the "Kuota Menegak Kerajaan" (KMK), only benefited intermediaries with political connections.

"Is the system fair to other citizens? What about those who have no relations or any interest in (political) parties or politicians?

"My opposition partners and I urge that the system is abolished because it is not transparent and fair, on the contrary, it is a hotbed for graft," Gan, who is also DAP's Penggaram assemblyperson, said while debating the state's 2018 budget in the Johor state assembly.

She said there had been 119,696 applications for the state's affordable housing schemes since 2013 but only 9,773 applicants or 8.16 percent were approved.

More than half of the approved applications, or 4,988, came from the political parties-linked KMK scheme.

The state opposition has been opposing the KMK system since as early as 2009.

Under the scheme, some affordable housing lots in the state are allocated as quotas to BN political parties in the state.

Applications to obtain these lots would require a letter of endorsement from BN state assemblypersons.

In 2014, Gan alleged 30 percent of lots in a low-cost housing scheme would be allocated to BN parties. Applications for other units would come directly under the state government.

Of the quota allocated to BN, 60 percent would go to Umno, 25 percent to MCA, and 15 percent to MIC, she had claimed.

The Johor government had repeatedly defended the scheme.

In May 2015, Bernama quoted the state’s housing and local government exco Abdul Latif Bandi saying that the scheme would continue.- Mkini