Penang govt ‘manipulating’ housing figures, says Gerakan
GEORGE TOWN: Penang Gerakan has accused the state government of “manipulating” figures on low-cost housing units in the state to show that it has built more units compared with the previous Barisan Nasional-led administration.
State Gerakan publicity bureau chief Ooi Zhi Yi said the figures given by the DAP-led state government were inaccurate and contradicted the date provided by the National Property Information Centre (Napic).
He said the data obtained from Napic showed that between the third quarter of 2002 and the first quarter of 2008, the previous BN-led administration had built 13,112 low-cost housing units, averaging 2,384 units a year.
He said the data showed that between the second quarter of 2008, when the then Pakatan Rakyat assumed power, and the fourth quarter of last year, the DAP-led state government had built only 11,016 lowcost housing units, or an average 1,296 units a year.
“It is obvious that the BN-led administration has built more low-cost housing units than the DAP-led state government.
“We are not trying to boast what the BN-led administration has done, but the DAP-led state government keeps providing inaccurate information and blaming the previous administration.
“As long as this state government does not acknowledge the housing problem, the people of Penang will suffer for a long time,” he said here yesterday.
Ooi said state Housing Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo, had, in a written reply to Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Lau Keng Ee at the recent state legislative assembly sitting, mentioned that it was a norm for a low-cost housing project to take five years to complete its planning and development process.
“With such a reply, we are confident to say that the low-cost housing units built within 2008 to 2013 was approved by the previous BN-led administration,” he noted.
Ooi also urged Jagdeep to come clean on where he obtained the data that the DAP-led state government had built more lowcost housing units compares with BN-led government.