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GEORGE TOWN (April 6): The Penang government will conduct a legalisation programme for People’s Housing Projects (PPR) and State Rental Homes, which have rental arears exceeding RM2 million.
State Housing and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Seri S Sundarajoo said the move is to ensure only those who really qualify can continue to enjoy low-cost housing facilities prepared by the government as over 30% of tenants are expected to be instructed to vacate their units as they do not meet qualification conditions, which include a household income limit of RM1,500 and below.
"The state government has set a period of three years for PPR rentals and it can be extended to a maximum of six years depending on the tenant’s economic standing,” he said at a media conference in Komtar here on Monday.
He said that based on current records, there are tenants who have stayed in units for almost 20 years even though the rental schemes are supposed to be temporary, and there are those who kept on staying even when their household income exceeded the condition of RM1,500 a month.
As an initial step, the state government has issued 18 notices to tenants at Taman Manggis PPR, which will be the pioneer in the legalisation effort, Sundarajoo said, and those affected are given a period of three months to vacate the premises.
There are four PPR schemes in Penang — Taman Manggis, Taman Bagan Jaya, Mak Mandin and Permatang Tok Suboh, all of which have a high tenancy rate — and out of the 999 units of PPR, 934 are said to be tenanted, with 268 units having rental arears of RM254,633 while for the State Rental Homes, out of the 1,931 units available, 1,591 are tenanted, with 907 units having arears reaching RM1.77 million.
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