Noh: KPKT to increase number of PPR lifts, unit size

GUA MUSANG: The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) will propose to the government to increase the number of lifts and the size of houses under the People's Housing Project (PPR).
Its Minister, Tan Sri Noh Omar (pix) said in this regard, a study would be made before the matter was brought to the Cabinet.
"We are urging the government to provide lifts for the PPR that are more than three storeys while the house built-up area should be increased from 65 sq metres to 74.3 sq metres," he told reporters after handing over the keys of houses for flood victims (RKB) at PPR Gua Musang here today.
Also present were Gua Musang member of parliament Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Galas state assemblyman Ab Aziz Yusof and KPKT secretary-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek.
At the ceremony, 31 flood victims who lost their houses in the 2014 flood disaster received their respective keys to the housing project.
Noh said 1,000 Gua Musang PPR housing units would be sold to residents living in the squatter areas of Gua Musang old town and having a monthly household income of less than RM3,000 through a rent-purchase scheme.
"The Gua Musang PPR is the first in the country to implement the rent-purchase scheme as there were problems to obtain loans when banks wanted their pay slips.
"We have not determined the payment amount and period for buyers as we wanted to coordinate with the PPR of Kuala lumpur City Hall (DBKL)," he said.
The construction on the Gua Musang PPR began in 2012 and it was completed in June 2014 on a 34.5 hectare site with each unit measuring 69 sq metre with three bedrooms, two bathrooms priced at RM35,000.
Commenting on the disagreement of banks on the ministry's proposal to grant housing developers with money lending licence to assist buyers obtain houses, Noh said the banks would need to study their procedures to facilitate house buyers to get their loans to buy their properties.
"It is the purview of the ministry to issue money lending licence to any eligible parties. If the banks do not agree, they should review (their procedures). We only want to help the poor," he said.
Yesterday, Noh was quoted as saying the ministry was proposing to issue housing developers with money lending licence to assist house buyers who faced financial difficults to obtain bank loans. — Bernama