The Housing and Local Government Minister also claimed that the Penang Chief Minister practised “revenge politics”.
GEORGE TOWN: Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua believes that there’s more to it than meets the eye in Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s statement that he daren’t meet with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng allegedly because the latter was “fierce and angry” all the time. Rahman Dahlan also claimed that Lim practised “revenge politics”.
“How could the Federal Minister be so irresponsible as to sacrifice the importance and needs of ordinary Penangites by abdicating his responsibilities? “asked Pua who is also DAP National Publicity Secretary. “Or is there more to it than meets the eye?”
“If Rahman Dahlan believes that he is right, then there is no reason for him to chicken out of a meeting with the Penang Chief Minister.”
Pua added that the Opposition was in a state of disbelief that a Minister who boasted so much about the Federal Government promising to build so many affordable homes for Malaysians would not meet with the Penang Government. “This is despite his very serious accusations that the state authorities are ‘sabotaging’ the Federal Government’s altruistic plans.”
Is the Housing Minister too afraid to meet with the Penang Chief Minister because he actually knows the real truth of the matter, and doesn’t want to end up like a “miserable loser” after the meeting?
Pua claimed that Rahman Dahlan knows for a fact that the initial applications made by federal agencies were rejected because they included development of properties costing up to RM1.8 million on Penang Island and RM800,000 on the mainland. “The selling prices of these properties are well above the ‘affordable housing’ guide of less than RM400,000 on the island and RM250,000 on the mainland.”
Based on the plans submitted by JKP Sdn Bhd and Penang Regional Housing Development Authority (PERDA), stressed Pua, they estimated that they will make a profit of RM149 million from these projects.
Why should these Federal Government agencies be making such huge profits at the expense of the rakyat?
Instead of the Federal Government fulfilling its promises and obligations to help fund the construction of affordable homes for Penangites, pointed out Pua, Penangites are instead being forced to fund the coffers of the Federal Government. “Rahman Dahlan should explain why the Penang Government should allow these Federal Government agencies to exploit the people of Penang.”
On top of that, said Pua, 11 out of 15 pieces of development land owned by JKP and PERDA were acquired by the Federal Government for “public interest” purposes.
If they were meant for “public interest”, then surely building for-profit multi-million ringgit properties would run afoul of the Land Acquisition Act?
“The Federal Government had promised an allocation of RM1.3 billion to build 80,000 affordable PR1MA homes throughout the country,” pointed out Pua. “Unfortunately, Penang has received not a single sen from the allocation.”
Hence, continued Pua, instead of knowingly making unfounded accusations against the Penang Government, the Housing Minister should reprimand his federal agencies for attempting to profiteer from ordinary Malaysians. “If Rahman Dahlan is sincere about building affordable homes, he should take a leaf out of the Penang Government’s book.”
The Penang Government, said Pua, has allocated a record RM500 million to build 22,512 affordable housing units on the island and mainland “with no intention of profiting from the projects”.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.