Lack of direction

IF the property sector is such an important part of the national economy, then it is odd that after 60 years of statehood, there is no overall property policy to provide vision and direction.

Just as the nation’s Federal Constitution provides the basis on how the state should evolve over time and generations, no matter who is in power, a national property policy provides the handles to resolve the current state of unsold/unutilised residential, mall and office space in the country.

Malaysia did not wake up one morning and find stacks and stacks of malls, offices and residentials which could not be sold, or are unutilised.

Bank Negara had made known the state of the sector and its various segments a couple of years ago. The country’s media - combined - has written mile-long articles about the supply and the overbuild situation.

It is because of this vacuum - the lack of a national property policy - that Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani called for a freeze on properties worth RM1mil and above in the country in late November, only to have another colleague say two days later that the freeze was for certain locations only.

It is because of this vacuum that Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said, on Wednesday, less than a month later, that the blanket ban would not be implemented in the city because it is “not feasible.”

And sadly, it is because of this lack of any policy too that Johari said yesterday that “there is no blanket freeze” on residentials RM1mil and above. That if a developer can prove to the housing ministry and the bank- ing sector - being lenders and financiers of such projects - that there is demand, approval will be given.