CHIEF Minister Chow Kon Yeow has assured Rehda (Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association) Penang that the state government would continue to listen to them as the housing industry is facing challenging times.
He said over the past 45 years, Rehda Penang has been the voice of developers in Penang and has played a significant role in bringing about development for the people of Penang in terms of creating new townships, employment and business opportunities.
“The state government has always been working with Rehda Penang to resolve challenges faced by the industry,” Chow said in his speech at the Rehda Penang’s 45th anniversary dinner at Setia SPICE Convention Centre on Nov 1.
“I wish to assure Rehda that the Penang government is a business-friendly government that listens to all.
“We believe in advocating a better quality of life for the people of Penang and the state government appreciates the role played by Rehda.
“We hear your views and will give them due consideration. The progress and prosperity of Penang can be achieved through the cooperation of all parties including Rehda through consultation, dialogue and public private partnership.”
Chow expressed hopes that Redha Penang would continue to play an important role in the development of Penang as it is a strategic partner.
He said he believed that with the upcoming infrastructure development and projects, like the Penang Transport Master Plan, the state is moving on the right track. He is optimistic that the projects could drive the state forward to realise the Penang 2030 vision in providing more affordable homes.
Also present at the anniversary dinner celebration were state Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo, Rehda Penang chairman Datuk Toh Chin Leong and organising chairman Datuk David Fong.
Jagdeep commended Toh, who would be completing his term as Rehda Penang chairman in May next year, for being a simple and straight-forward man who could work well with him.
He said the state government welcomes suggestion from Rehda Penang on issues pertaining to pricing threshold, but he stressed that the priority for the state government to the people is to ensure the availability of affordable homes.
Toh, in his speech, said the property market has been soft for the last three years, and property prices have been stagnant or even declining at certain areas in Penang.
Since the beginning of this year, he said the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) was launched in order to stimulate the property market with the aim to reduce the overhang.
“We would like to thank the Finance Ministry for the stamp duty waiver initiative, and also the state government for waiving the three percent foreigners’ levy during the campaign, as well as the recent proposal to reduce the threshold from RM1 million to RM800,000 for six months,” Toh said.
“Speaking about HOC, as of today, the number of property registered with Rehda Penang stands at over 14,700 units with the value of RM15 billion, and the units sold as of end October are 1,847 with the value of RM1.5 billion before discount.
“The HOC has only two more months remaining, and our last MAPEX will be held from Nov 7 to Nov 10.
“I hope that all our members can join us for this final lap before HOC comes to an end.”
Toh said he has been constantly advising the authorities to come out with guidelines that are fair and transparent, so that developers can have a level playing field.
“As a developer, I truly believe that we are creators. We build something on the land, and the development that we build, may it be good or bad, has an undeniably big impact on the surroundings.
“The development will be there for the next fifty to hundred years. The social responsibility of a developer is to improve the quality of life of the people who are staying in the area.
“But today, we see development schemes that are not friendly to the surroundings, which in turn, indirectly compromise the people’s quality of life. I urge that we place higher priority on quality than quantity.”
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix and video by Chan Kok Kuan