IT was a double joy for state executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo when he celebrated his 48th birthday during the state legislature assembly sitting in Dewan Sri Pinang today.
One was that Penang has recorded a reduction in overhang of housing units in 2018 compared to 2017 and the other was that both the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) were awarded five-star ratings for 2018 by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.
“This is my best ever birthday present. I must smile,” said Jagdeep, who is the state Housing, Local Government, Town and Rural Development Committee chairman and also the Datok Keramat assemblyman.
From the figures provided by the National Property Information Centre, he said Penang had 3,916 unsold units in 2017 but 3,502 in 2018.
“I’ve said before that we have managed the overhang by not allowing it to increase alarmingly. Other states had seen an alarming increase to 200 to 300 per cent,” said Jagdeep, who recalled answering the question raised by Daniel Gooi (PH – Pengkalan Kota) yesterday on whether the measures taken by federal and state governments had assisted Penang.
Also present were State Secretary Datuk Seri Farizan Darus, assemblymen Heng Lee Lee (Berapit), A. Kumaresan (Batu Uban) and Azrul Mahathir Aziz (Bayan Lepas), Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang and Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) president Datuk Rozali Mohamud.
“Penang remains a very attractive investment for property, I can vouch for that. And I call upon all Malaysians to look to Penang and invest where property is concerned. You cannot go wrong in Penang.
“And this is a turnaround. While all urbanised states are suffering on overhang, we actually saw a reduction. Whether you are Penangites, non-Penangites or even foreign investors, property is the way to go in Penang. I am quite sure that we will continue to see a further reduction in overhand in time to come.”
Jagdeep said states like Johor, Perak and Selangor had an increase in overhang while Kedah had a reduction.
Unsold housing units in Johor jumped from 4,376 in 2017 to 6,066 in 2018; Perak from 2,276 in 2017 to 5,367 in 2018 and Selangor from 3,713 in 2017 to 4,693 in 2018 while Kedah improved from 3,753 units in 2017 to 3,011 in 2018.
Jagdeep congratulated both MBPP and MPSP for winning the five-star rating again and challenged them to continue to provide quality service to the residents so that they could maintain the rating status.
“It is easy to get to the top but very difficult to maintain. It’s important to look at the marked improvement.
“Congratulations. You (MBPP and MPSP) have no idea how much you’ve touched my heart today on my birthday. We have two of the biggest councils in the country. Penang leads.
“We do not want to be a smart city, it would not be fair to MPSP because it is not a city. But definitely a lot of our smart projects are in MPSP. We want to achieve a smart state.”
For the rating in 2018, MBPP scored 95.80% while MPSP achieved 95.90%.
Jagdeep said MPSP had applied to Local Government and Housing Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin last December for a city status and is awaiting a Cabinet decision soon.
The ministry graded 101 local councils in 2018 based on four criteria – management (20%), core services (40%), customer management (15%) and community participation and residents’ perception (25%).
The rating marks are: five-star (90-100), four-star (75-89), three-star (60-74), two-star (46-59) and one-star (45 and less).
For the record, both MBPP and MPSP achieved three-star rating in 2008, four-star rating in 2011 and 2013, and five-star rating in 2015 and 2018.
Yew said MBPP would continue to work as a team and family with the residents to provide their best service while Rozali thanked the residents and state government for the award, noting that core services and community participation are very important factors.
Story by K.H.Ong
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad