Penang BN wants state govt to come clean on low, medium-cost housing

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Barisan Nasional wants the state government to reveal the facts and myths on low and low-medium cost houses constructed since 2008.

Its publicity bureau chief Tan Cheng Liang said the state government was diverting the Taman Manggis land sale issue and confusing the people.

She said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was explanation on the Taman Manggis land sale because he had made a blunder by saying the land was too small for housing development.

She said Penangites were still in doubt about the Taman Manggis land sale.

"He has not answered the questions raised on the issue until today," she said, here.

Barisan coordinators for the Batu Lancang, Sungai Puyu and Komtar state constituencies and Bayan Baru parliamentary seat on Thursday also joined hands to brush off Guan Eng's claim of Barisan not building low-cost houses when it was in power in Penang.

Guan Eng was quoted by Chinese newspapers as questioning why Barisan raised the issue on low-cost housing since it did not undertake the initiative when in power.

Batu Lancang Barisan constituency coordinator, Lee Boon Ten said the statement was incorrect because Barisan had constructed 35,761 units of low and low-medium cost houses from 1990 to 2008.

"During that period too, BN provided 4,615 units of low-cost flats under the rent-and-purchase scheme for needy families. It also approved 33,514 low-cost houses for construction in Penang from 2004 to 2008," he said.

Lee said Barisan, if returned to power in the general election, would be committed to building 20,000 units of low cost-flats and implementing the rent-and-buy scheme within a period of five years at a cost of RM1.5bil to alleviate low-cost housing woes in Penang.

He said according to the 2010 Auditor-General's Report, the Pakatan Rakyat government did not implement any new low-cost housing project between 2008 and 2010 despite receiving 152,702 applications.

By The Star