GEORGE TOWN, April 15 — Barisan Nasional (BN) must fulfil its 2013 promise to build 9,999 units of affordable housing in Air Itam before promising another 65,000 units this election, Jagdeep Singh Deo said.

The caretaker Penang state exco said the prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, promised to build the 9,999 units of affordable housing back in May 2013.

Till today, Jagdeep said not even a single unit of the promised 9,999 affordable housing units were built in Penang.

"I call upon him to first build the 9,999 units that he promised way back in 2013 before making further promises,” he said in a statement today at the groundbreaking ceremony of The Zen, an affordable housing project by Asia Green, in Bayan Baru.

He said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state government had delivered on its promises to build more affordable housing projects by making available some 25,555 units of low cost and low medium cost units priced between RM42,000 and RM72,500 since 2008.

He said the previous BN administration had only built 5,154 units of such housing from 1999 to 2007.

Jagdeep said the state government now has some 75,361 units of low cost, low medium cost and affordable housing that have been built, are being built and have been approved to be built in Penang.

He said seven out of the 18 planned low cost, low medium cost and affordable housing projects are already underway and in various stages of construction.

Bandar Cassia in south Seberang Perai is 100 per cent completed with Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) obtained, Kampung Jawa in Butterworth is 93 per cent completed, Dua Residensi in Teluk Kumbar is 77 per cent completed, The Rise in SP Chelliah is 76 per cent completed, Kepala Gajah in south Seberang Perai is 26.5 per cent completed and groundbreaking was held for Sandilands Foreshore on the island and Ladang Byram in south Seberang Perai.

Today, The Zen is one of the state’s Public-Private Partnership project to build 1,200 affordable housing units priced at RM300,000.

Jagdeep said the private sector is also building four low cost, low media cost and affordable housing projects in the state such as Rumah Pavillion which is fully completed, Tripinnacle which is 80 per cent completed, One Forresta which is 61 per cent completed and I-Santorini which is 41 per cent completed.

He said the PH state will continue to prioritise the provision of affordable housing to assist the lower income group.