Govt mulls building 500,000 houses at sewage plant areas — Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is mulling the possibility of building approximately 500,000 houses at sewage treatment plant areas nationwide, which will be redeveloped in the next five to 10 years.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the redevelopment of such areas was proposed after taking into account the size of idle land available and the fact that only a small area was needed for each sewage treatment plant, thanks to new technology.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Housing, said the proposed redevelopment would be implemented through a smart partnership between Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) and a private company.

The government, he said, had agreed in principle to the proposed project, but would look further into the details before finalising it.

“Maybe only five to 10 percent of the original sewage treatment plant areas would be maintained, while the rest would be used to build the houses,” he said at the SPNB's 20th Anniversary and Aidilfitri celebration, which was also attended by Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and SPNB chairman Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad, here yesterday.

Meanwhile, SPNB chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Azizi Ali said the project was proposed to be implemented on areas left idle by Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn Bhd.

“The IWK used to need more land for their sewage treatment plants, but now that they are using a more modern and sophisticated system, only a small area of land is needed for the purpose.