B40 housing at Highland Towers site mulled
PUTRAJAYA: The Housing and Local Government Ministry plans to build a housing project for the B40 group at the site of the Highland Towers condominium which collapsed 25 years ago.
Its minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin, said the proposed plan could be implemented only after the land had been acquired and legal issues had been resolved.
“The first meeting of the Committee of Redevelopment of Highland Towers will be held at the ministry tomorrow (today) and will be chaired by chief secretary Datuk Mohammad Mantek.”
She said the committee would have representatives from the Finance, Economic Affairs, Works, Environment and Natural Resources ministries, Selangor government, Land and Mines, Mineral and Geoscience and Drainage and Irrigation departments and the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council.
She said the site was prime land in Kuala Lumpur and should be used, instead of leaving it idle.
On the risk of developing the housing project, she said the development would be carried out according to the required specification.
She said the ministry would review the policy on the duration for the government to take over abandoned housing projects.
“If the period stated in the policy is too long, there might be a need to shorten it,” she said, adding that there were 257 abandoned projects, with the highest number in Selangor.