Penang Umno says the trust was set-up in 2009 but not a sen has been spent by the state government.
GEORGE TOWN: Penang Umno today demanded to know why the state government has failed to utilise the millions in funds available in the state Bumiputera Housing Trust Account to build Bumi-only affordable houses.
Penang Umno chief Zainal Abidin Osman said according to the Auditor-General’s Report 2013, the trust account had RM53.9 million in funds.
He noted however that until December 31, 2013, not a single sen was spent from the trust account.
“Why were the funds not utilised to build alternative affordable houses for Bumiputeras in Penang after five years?” asked Zainal, who is also Penang chairman for the Federal Action Council (FAC), in a statement here today.
The trust account was established by the current Pakatan Rakyat state government in 2009.
The trust account is to accumulate waiver charges paid by developers, who have applied for the state waiver on non-saleable Bumi housing lots to enable them to sell the units to non-Bumis.
Zainal also demanded the DAP-led state government to publicly disclose how many Bumi lots had been waived since 2008.
The FAC Penang chairman also announced that despite the state government’s “no Bumi discount” policy, federal agencies would offer it in their respective housing projects.
He said JKP Sdn Bhd dan Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) would offer the five per cent Bumi discount for affordable housing projects in their pipelines even though the units would be sold 20% lower than market price.
The state ceiling price for affordable houses is RM400,000 on the island and RM250,000 on the mainland.
“Although the state government had done away with the discount, we hope private developers will continue to offer it to Bumi buyers to encourage more Bumiputeras to buy homes in Penang,” said Zainal.
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