Affordable housing: Gerakan questions Penang's decision

Penang Gerakan Publicity Bureau chief Ooi Zhi Yi said he could not understand the objective of the state government to build houses that are priced higher when the demand for houses priced below RM100,000 is still high.

"What is the motive of the Penang government? To build affordable houses for the people or to enable corporate leaders to make profits. The main objective of the government should be to provide affordable houses for the people.

"Building houses for people to invest should be secondary. Housing development should be done with proper analysis and planning. It should be planned by monitoring the demand and supply in the industry. Otherwise, it will have a major effect, especially on the price of houses," he told reporters here today.

He said based on statistics from the National Information Property Centre (NAPIC) 12,933 units of affordable houses have not been sold in Penang last year.

Ooi said from the total 284 units were priced below RM50,000; 378 units (RM50,001 to RM100,000), 1,918 units (RM100,001 to RM300,000) and 10,353 units (above RM300,000).