KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Providing affordable housing remains City Hall’s top priority, as evident in the proposed development in Datuk Keramat.
Mayor Datuk Mhd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said outsiders should not instigate local residents against the project, which was part of City Hall’s plan to build 50,000 of such homes in the city.
Amin said City Hall had initially planned for 30,000 affordable houses in the city, but the number was increased to accommodate demand. They will be built in nine areas including Kepong, Pandan Mas, Batu Muda, Bandar Tun Razak and Datuk Keramat.
“We applied for land from the Federal Territory Lands and Mines office to build affordable houses, and one of the sites we applied for was the 1.8 acre site at Jalan Padang Tembak,” he said.
“We paid a premium of RM1.3 million in 2011. The figure was set by the Lands and Mines office. We sold it to the developer last year for RM16.2 million, based on an evaluation by the Valuation and Property Services Department.”
He said Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia, UDA Development Holdings and several government-linked companies had applied to develop houses on the land.
“We received offers to develop the land in Datuk Keramat in the middle of last year. It was sold to the developer at market price later the same year.
UDA Holdings only sent their application to us in October, so it was only right for us to evaluate the offers that came in before that,” he said.
Amin said 50 per cent of the houses would be sold for below RM200,000 solely to bumiputras. The other 50 per cent would cost RM600,000 and below, with 70 per cent allocated for bumiputras, 20 per cent for Chinese and 10 per cent for Indians.
Residents in the area had protested against the development at the site last month and had recently held a dialogue session with Titiwangsa MP Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.
Some of the residents said they had seen documents that showed some of the houses would be sold for no more than RM2 million.
“That was during the development order process between City Hall and the developer. But City Hall will not allow such prices. We control the pricing of the houses.”
“There will be no homes costing RM1 million or more in any of the nine housing projects we are developing or involved with,” Amin assured.
Datuk Keramat residents claimed they were not informed or consulted by City Hall over the Datuk Keramat project.
Amin said City Hall had followed the required processes and had engaged with those living in the surrounding areas over the development.
“We did ask the residents of the immediate area surrounding the land but those objecting are living beyond the earmarked area.
“By right, only those living close by can protest against the development,” he said.
