New agency being explored to handle Penang flat ‘from hell’

 

Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy says he’ll be meeting MBSP’s commissioner of buildings to resolve the Teluk Indah Flats issue.

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government today said it was exploring new ways to handle the unsanitary situation at the Teluk Indah Flats in Perai, including the setting-up of a new agency to carry out maintenance work there.

Deputy chief minister P Ramasamy said over the past decade, the state government had spent close to RM2 million in clean-up, lift repairs and payment of utility bills.

He said the issues at the 19-year-old flat has been going on for decades and continues until today.

Speaking to FMT, he said the joint management body (JMB) of the flat cannot point their fingers at the residents for being apathetic, as the JMB was part of the problem.

Ramasamy said there have been various allegations that many of the JMBs in the past had misused funds collected from maintenance fees and other one-off funds given by the Penang government.

“No other low-cost flats have received as much funding from the state and from my own allocations too, as the Teluk Indah Flats. What we have here is a bigger issue that goes beyond the dumping of garbage from high floors and the issues related to the JMB.

“These two flats are still under receivership. In other words, they have not been handed over to the city council maintenance and supervision. This is why private garbage collectors and cleaners are engaged,” he said.

Ramasamy said he will be meeting with the Seberang Perai City Council’s (MBSP) commissioner of buildings to resolve the long-term problems affecting the residents there.

Meanwhile, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto said help is being sought to repair the lifts at the flat, which are currently out of service.

She said state and federal authorities will be engaged for funds to improve facilities and infrastructure at the flats.

Today, FMT highlighted the situation at the flats, where garbage bags are dumped into a void separating the flats daily, causing an unbearable stench.

All six lifts are not working at the two-block, 21-storey flats as of yesterday, and a water tank continues to spill over from the highest floor after its parts were stolen. - FMT