KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim has taken the opposition to task for ‘twisting’ the issue concerning the 1Malaysia People’s Housing (PR1MA) Project.
The opposition, he said, should not politicise the issue, especially when it involves the middle income (M40) group.
Yesterday, in Parliament, PKR’s Bayan Baru Member of Parliament Sim Tze Tzin had claimed that the Federal government had failed to fulfil one of its manifesto pledged in 2013, which was to build one million affordable homes, including 500,000 PR1MA units.
Shahidan said Sim’s statement was inaccurate and that he (Sim) should get the facts right before making any comments on the matter.
“In Barisan Nasional’s manifesto, PR1MA was mandated to develop 500,000 units of homes within five years. This does not mean that these homes are to be completed in five years. Development work can be in various stages, from planning to the actual construction.
“Building homes is not an easy task and it requires a lot of planning, which involves many processes and procedures. It also requires a huge amount of investment. For PR1MA, it is crucial that it conducts various studies, particularly demand analysis before embarking on any project,” he said in a statement today.
He said obtaining approval is among the major challenges the government faces as it requires continuous engagement with the states, because approval lies with the local government and the states.
He added that following the last general election, PR1MA had to discontinue several proposals due to challenges and difficulties. However, he said there are many other future projects which are still under consideration and analysis.
“We (BN) are committed towards achieving our goals as what was promised in the manifesto. I would like to urge Sim and his fellow opposition MPs to look at fulfilling the promises they made during the last general election,” he said.
To date, he said more than 1.47 million Malaysians have registered with PR1MA, of whom To 166,972 have applied to purchase homes. A total of 9,791 units of PR1MA homes have been sold, with an estimated value of RM2.36 billion.