FT Minister: Some changes, but Rumawip projects to continue

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Territories-Affordable Home Development (Rumawip) project will be continued with some improvements which include methods in the awarding of tenders and distribution of houses, Federal Territories (FT) Minister Khalid Abdul Samad, said today.
He said Rumawip had turned out to be the most successful venture introduced by the ministry in providing affordable housing because the construction was carried out by developers who obtained the projects from the government.
He added that the project had since its commencement, never failed, as it was on time and never abandoned, making it easy for Rumawip housebuyers to get loans from financial institutions, based on market factors and property values in the area, he said.
Khalid said his ministry would discuss with the Housing and Local Government Minister to ensure the project is continued and the ministry plays its role in bringing about improvements in construction from the start till it is distributed to housebuyers.
"We admit Rumawip is the most successful approach, but we also find some unhealthy elements where the awarding of tenders is not open-ended, there is no transparency in the distribution of houses and it seems to be profiting only the developers," he told a press conference after a dialogue session with entrepreneurs from the Malaysian Islamic Chamber of Commerce (DPIM) Putrajaya here. .
Rumawip is a housing construction project under the FT Ministry initiated during the previous government. It will now be managed by the Affordable Housing Council under the Housing and Local Government Ministry as well as 1Malaysia People's Housing (PR1MA) and Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB).
Meanwhile, Khalid said the ministry would revisit the Putrajaya Master Plan 1995, to identify possible constraints that could result in the existence of unsold land lots at the federal government's administrative centre, which were initially intended for commercial development.
He said that preliminary policies focused on the sale of land to large companies which might be among the reasons why the commercial lots could not be sold.
In order to make Putrajaya grow commercially, we need to allow companies of small- and medium-entrepreneurs to engage and participate in planned development.
"After a long time, only 30% of commercial lots in Putrajaya have been sold ... this should be looked into and whether the original plan should be maintained or changed, to allow small and medium industries to come in," he said.
Khalid said his ministry was ready to cooperate with any party in ensuring that land that had been classified as commercial plots are developed and sold. — Bernama