RM35,000 ceiling price for public housing units

KUALA LUMPUR: The ceiling price for the government’s People’s Housing Programme (PPR) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) public housing units will be fixed at RM35,000 per unit, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced.

The Prime Minister said that this would involve all 44,146 units of houses up for sale. Of these, 29,562 are PPR houses in 20 areas and 14,584 DBKL units in 17 areas.

PPR houses would be sold at RM35,000 a unit while the DBKL ones at between RM21,500 and RM35,000 a unit depending on the number of rooms and size, he said.

“The government won’t sell these houses at market rates which is between RM80,000 and RM85,000 but at prices affordable to the average Malaysian.

“This is a special gift (to them) in line with the 1Malaysia tagline which is ‘People First, Performance Now. On July 11, in marking my 100 days as Prime Minister, I did say I will be announcing several gifts for the people, this is one of them,” he said.

Najib was speaking when launching the sale of PPR houses in Kerinchi here. Also present were Federal Territories Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal and Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.

Elaborating further, Najib said that following the announcement, forms to purchase the houses would be circulated to those eligible to buy them from Monday.

He said priority would be given to those who have been renting these houses for a long time and whose household income did not exceed RM2,500 a month.

“We expect those who qualify will get their approval letters or the sale and purchase agreement in November or December,” he said, adding that the government would also assist buyers get loans.

“This is also part of the government’s National Key Result Areas (NKRA) and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) initiatives so the average Malaysian gets to live comfortably,” he added. — Bernama

Fomca: Green strategy needed in automotive policy review

PETALING JAYA: The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) has called on the Government to ensure that the review of the National Automotive Policy (NAP) emphasises "the people-first approach" to protect consumers.

Fomca president Datuk N. Marimuthu said the present NAP merely outlined "easier ways to get cars into consumers' spending list by increasing fuel subsidy and easy car loan facilities."

The review should also integrate a green technology policy into the NAP so that less carbon dioxide was emitted into the environment by reducing the number of cars on the road, he said when commenting on the Government's intention to review the NAP.

The reduction, he said, could be done by improving the public transport system and making it more efficient, convenient and user-friendly.

He added that the NAP should also emphasise on the efficiency of the car itself.

"Consumers in Malaysia deserve fuel-efficient and eco-friendly cars with alternative energy that helps reduce fuel usage and carbon dioxide emission," he said.

Marimuthu said the NAP should also address traffic management issues, because putting more cars on the road caused parking woes, traffic congestion and pollution.

He suggested that an "end of life vehicles" scheme be incorporated into the NAP to make it more affordable for consumers to own new cars.

According to him, many countries, like Japan and the United States, had such a scheme which helped to develop a new industry based on recycled car components.

"Base on statistics, 90% of car components can be recycled, thus helping to reduce pollution and preserve Mother Nature," he said. - Bernama