Federal government to take over 'problematic' PPR flats

The Housing, Urban Well-Being and Local Government Ministry will take over 'problematic' People's Housing Projects (PPR) from the state government following several reports of serious drugs activities and poorly- maintained facilities there.

Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the government will form local housing management bodies to oversee the PPR's transformation.

He said his ministry will be sending a letter to the Selangor state government to inform them of the transformation plan and kick-start the takeover process.

The first PPR to be affected is Lembah Subang 1, he said.

"You reporters can go and see for yourselves the residents' living conditions in Lembah Subang 1. I myself have visited the place numerous times. There are 3,000 units in eight blocks, with an average of three people per unit. That's almost 10,000 people.

"When the PPR Lembah Subang 1 was made, Selangor was still under the Barisan Nasional government's rule. When we handed it over to the current state government, it was under the condition that the state government would ensure the maintenance and rent," said Noh.

"The state government can't even manage the PPR. Too much politicking rather than caring for the rakyat's welfare. Which is why, InsyaAllah (God willing), I will make the Lembah Subang 1 PPR as a model transformation," he told reporters at an event at the Fire and Rescue Department headquarters here today.

Last week, Astro AWANI reported that of the 27 PPR flats within the Klang Valley, more than 80 percent have been found to be used as drug dens.

This social ill, mostly affecting teens, had been attributed to the flats being a very high-density area.

Subsequently, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said residents who are living in PPR flats sized between 300 and 500sq ft, would be relocated to a bigger housing.