CYBERJAYA, Oct 27 – Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani urged housing development projects to focused on low and medium cost houses instead of affordable homes. He said the word ‘affordable house’ need to be reviewed because they need to mention low cost and medium cost since affordable homes are priced at RM300,000.
“The word ‘affordable house’ need to be reviewed because we need to mention low cost and medium cost since affordable homes are priced at RM300,000. When I ask the developers, some say RM500,000 houses are also affordable because every time such housing projects are launched, it is sold out,” he told reporters after opening a Budget 2016 briefing organised by the Inland Revenue Board here on Monday.
“Low and medium cost houses must be increased to bridge the gap between urban and rural communities. Imagine those earning RM1,000 and living in rural areas because houses are cheap but when considering a person earning the same amount and living in the city, with transport cost reaching RM600 a month, it is not feasible. There must be a balance in the economic status,” said Johari.
As a move to increase the number of low and medium cost houses in the city, Johari proposed developers focus on redeveloping old apartments and flats. For example, he added that Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) need not handover commercial development to private developers but develop such areas or build low and medium cost houses on land that belong to DBKL.
