AT a press conference in Komtar on Oct 5, state exco member for Local Government, Housing and Town & Country Planning Jagdeep Singh related what had transpired in a meeting chaired by Housing & Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin the day before (Oct 4) in Putrajaya which was attended by the Housing and Local Government excos from all the different states across Malaysia.
A visibly pleased Jagdeep noted the proactiveness on the part of Zuraida in engaging with the states especially in addressing the housing woes which have been affecting Penang when Barisan Nasional still held federal power. The housing needs of Penangites had, according to the 3-term Datok Keramat assemblyman, been neglected by the then federal government.
“I’m very happy to announce that a very fruitful meeting was held at Putrajaya which was called by the Minister of Housing and Local Government Hajjah Zuraida Kamaruddin with all the housing and local government executive councillors in Malaysia including those from states ruled by the Opposition (BN),” Jagdeep said.
Jagdeep revealed that many issues were raised by all parties for her consideration and for Penang, these include funding by the federal government for housing maintenance under the now renamed Tabung Penyelenggaraan Malaysia, Public Housing Programmes (Program Perumahan Rakyat or PPR) and upgrading Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) to city council status.
“It was brought to Zuraida’s attention that prior to GE14, Penang had 126 outstanding applications under the (then) TP1M amounting to RM66.4 million. These included 55 projects from MBPP (Penang Island City Council) accounting for RM37.7 million and 71 projects from MPSP amounting to RM28.6 million,”
“The Minister has committed to look into these outstanding applications and we hope to hear more good news in the coming future,” he said.
“It was confirmed that currently, 2 plots of land in Jelutong are being considered for PPR by the federal government. Further to this, all executive councillors were requested to submit a complete list of land that have been identified for the development of PPR. I’m happy to state that Penang has identified further plots of land in every district for the purpose of PPR,” added Jagdeep.
“I had also raised the issue of the desire of the Penang state government to upgrade MPSP to a status of city council just as what was done for the MBPP in 2015. In this regard, it was confirmed (by the Minister herself) that there is no restriction for any particular state to only have one council with city status, as was intimated to Penang before GE14 by the former BN federal government, when we first suggested that MPSP be upgraded to city status.
“In this regard, I will be proceeding with all relevant applications, both to the state and federal governments for the upgrade of MPSP to city council status,” Jagdeep said.
Jagdeep also expressly thanked Zuraida for her proactive and positive attitude in holding discussions with all the Housing and Local Government exco members in the country, whereby in this new era, all states irrespective of political affiliation, can look forward to a more positive outlook in matters concerning housing and local government.
Story by Victor Seow
Pix by Alissala Thian