A MANAGEMENT corporation (MC) has finally been set up for the Noordin Street Ghaut apartment – some 53 years after it was built in 1969.
The project is one of the six low-cost public housing schemes in Penang which had finally set up the MC as of Oct 17 this year.
The others were the Batu Lancang flats, Mak Mandin Hijau flats, Taman Tun Dr Awang flats, Jalan Tuna flats and Jalan Md Saad flats.
There are a total of 21 low-cost public housing schemes in Penang.
In accordance with the Strata Management Act 2013 which stipulates the establishment of the JMB or the MC, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the Act also applies to low-cost public housing schemes.
“These 21 stratified projects in Penang have been managed by the Penang Housing Board (previously the state Housing office).
“With the effort by the state Housing Board and the local authority, six out of 21 low-cost public housing schemes have managed to set up the joint management body (JMB) or MC for their respective projects,” Chow said in his speech at the Noordin Street Ghaut apartment today.
To aid the JMB/MC in these six low-cost public housing schemes, a ‘Start-Up Fund’ was initiated by the Penang government.
A one-off disbursement (according to the formula of RM100 per parcel/unit) would be channelled into the respective MC’s maintenance account.
The 17-storey Noordin Street Ghaut apartment has 384 units, hence, the MC will be receiving RM38,400 in its maintenance account through the ‘Start-Up Fund’.
Chow, in his speech, said the state government has always prioritised the well-being of the people.
“Especially during this period, the people may hear allegations that the Penang government has not been doing much over the past 15 years.
“We let our performance speak for itself.
“I give you one example – the maintenance of apartments in Penang.
“Before 2008, the state government would not want to be responsible for the maintenance of apartments, especially the private ones. This is because there are MCs, JMBs or developers to manage them, therefore, the government did not wish to be responsible.
“However, after the change of state government in 2008, we received many requests from the residents of apartment projects to help them with the maintenance works of their housing schemes.
“Although the Penang government is not legally responsible to aid these housing schemes, we felt that it is our social responsibility to help the people.
“Therefore, the Penang government decided to allocate funds to help these housing schemes as much as we could.
“The Penang government does not have much money, but we do our best to help. We spent a few million ringgit a year.
“For the past 15 years until today, we have spent RM308 million,” Chow said.
He added that the state government would consider helping in the maintenance projects which affect the people’s safety and comfort, such as repairing or replacing the elevators, and water tanks, and painting the apartments.
“This is how the Penang government, after 2008, bring transformation to the people’s life and livelihood,” he said after giving one example of Penang’s numerous efforts in caring for the people’s welfare and progressing the state.
Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Daniel Gooi congratulated the Penang Housing Board for successfully organising the handover ceremony.
“This is a significant event for the residents here. Various efforts had been taken including an engagement session, prior to this day,” he said.
Gooi also thanked Chow and state Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo for their guidance and dedication.
Jagdeep said the state was happy to be able to empower the people.
“We are now seeing the results of the discussions and engagement sessions,” he commented about the formation of the JMB or MC for the six low-cost public housing schemes.
Also present were Penang Housing Board general manager ‘Ainul Fadhilah Samsudi and Noordin Street Ghaut apartment MC chairman Lee Choon Cheng.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alissala Thian
Video by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar