GEORGETOWN, May 27 – YB Jagdeep Singh Deo hold a press conference today at Komtar to talk about the selection of applicants for low cost, low medium cost and affordable housing units. It was done by the Selection Process Enhancement Committee (SPEC) which is headed by he and comprising of 7 other elected representatives namely YB Phee Boon Poh, YB Dato’ Abdul Malik Abul Kassim, YB Dr. Afif Bahardin, YB Jeff Ooi, YB Ng Wei Aik, YB Sim Tze Tzin and YB Ong Chin Wen.
The Selection Process Enhancement Committee was sites at at least once a month to conduct the selection and the selection by race. It was as per quota set in the Penang State Structure Plan 2007 namely are as follows:
- Low Cost: 50% Bumiputra; 35% Chinese and others; 15% Indian
- Low Medium Cost: 30% Bumiputra; 55% Chinese and others; 15% Indian
- Affordable Housing: The race quota used is as per low medium cost due to it was a new category of housing which introduced in January, 2014
The offers for low cost, low medium cost and affordable housing since 2008 to April 2015 are as follows:
- Low Cost: 20,284 Bumiputra; 14,198 Chinese and others; 6,084 Indian = Total: 40,566
- Low Medium Cost: 9,755 Bumiputra; 17,887 Chinese and others; 4,879 Indian = Total: 32,521
- Affordable Housing: 612 Bumiputra; 2,244 Chinese and others; 425 Indian = Total: 3,281
Clearly the Penang State Government has as its priority the provision of affordable housing which are as follows:
- Low Cost Priced = RM42,000.00
- Low Medium Cost Priced = RM72,500.00
- Affordable Housing Units Ranging from:-
– RM200,000.00 to RM400,000.00 on the island
– RM150,000.00 to RM250,000.00 on the mainland
“We will continue to ensure the provision of these various types of low cost, low medium cost and affordable housing units to cater for the various categories of applicants for housing in Penang. Meanwhile, the letter in relation to a developer also has made an offer to one Malay applicant and 32 Chinese applicants. It should be noted that the particular project has in total 2,685 units. The particular letter of the first batch of the offers made are on going process whereby there are many more Malay and Indian applicants who will be considered and if eligible which will be offered a unit soon,” said YB Jagdeep Singh Deo.
“In additional, I also would like to call upon all Penangites who are interested in purchasing an affordable housing unit to come over Penang State Housing Department (Level 20th, KOMTAR) to register themselves which there are many projects are coming up soon. It was included low cost, low medium cost and the different range of affordable housing units that are available which we can allocate to successful applicants,” he said.
“Lastly, I also would like to call upon all parties to cease and desist from making any statement with an imputation that the selection process is racially based such as the statements are not only irresponsible and defamatory. It also misleading especially to those applicants who truly deserve such low cost, low medium cost and the various range of affordable housing units,” he added.
