Penang govt denies manipulating figure on low cost housing units

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang DAP-led government has denied manipulating figures on low-cost housing units as it was obtained from state local councils.

State housing, town and country planning committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the figures were obtained from the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) when they issued the Occupancy Certificate (OC) or Certificate of Completion and Compliance (OCC).

“Under this administration, a total of 21,535 units of Affordable Housing Type A and B (low and low- medium cost) were built from 2008 until May this year,” he told reporters after the Penang Government Affordable Housing Expo Series 2 yesterday.

He added that the same statistics showed that only 5,154 units were built from 1999 to 2007.

Last Thursday, Penang Gerakan publicity bureau chief Ooi Zhi Yi claimed the figures given by the state government were inaccurate and found to have a huge contrast with the data provided by the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC).

Ooi was quoted as saying that 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 as compared to the second quarter of 2008, when the then-Pakatan Rakyat assumed power until the fourth quarter of 2016, whereby the DAP-led state government had only built 11,016 low-cost housing units. - Bernama