Zuraida, Guan Eng under fire over property threshhold

Projects to built 8,660 new houses had been abandoned in the past two years alone, says the Association of Victims of Abandoned Properties Malaysia.

PETALING JAYA: The ministers for finance and housing have both been taken to task for their remarks about the lower RM600,000 threshhold for foreigners to buy property, as proposed in the 2020 Budget.

Both ministers were criticised in a statement this evening by the Association of Victims of Abandoned Properties Malaysia, whose chairman Mohamed Rafick Khan urged the government to rethink its decision.

Rafick accused housing minister Zuraida Kamaruddin of “finger-pointing” by saying that the proposal to lower the threshold had come from the finance ministry, not the housing ministry.

He said her remark gave the impression that the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition was disconnected and there was no inter-ministry consultation.

Rafick also criticised finance minister Lim Guan Eng for later clarifying that the reduced price applied only to completed and unsold stock.

Calling it an after-thought, he said the later announcement reflected poorly on the government and he wondered how “such blunders could happen”.

Putrajaya should revisit its decision and put in measures to ensure only bona fide developers are given the necessary benefits.

He called for action by the housing ministry to protect house buyers against projects being abondoned. In the past 2 years, he said, projects to built 8,660 new houses had been abandoned, affecting 4,598 families. In addition there were 47,500 units of houses “either sick or delayed”, which affects over 23,000 buyers. - FMT