PETALING JAYA, April 4 — Over 100 units temporary housing will be allocated for Putra Heights residents who are affected by the gas pipeline fire, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari announced today.
Amirudin said he has received confirmation from the Selangor Housing and Property Board that the temporary housing will be made available in the form of smart rental.
“If everything goes smoothly, within a week or two, we will be able to place [the affected residents] in the houses offered by Airbnb and smart rental,” Amirudin told a press conference at the Putra Heights Mosque temporary relief centre here.
When asked if the Selangor state government will bear the cost of renting these temporary housing units, Amirudin said he is currently working on a possible scheme.
The scheme may see residents only pay for part of the rent, and the rest will be subsidised by allocations from the federal government.
“There are three steps — immediate contributions, next week the contributions will be allocated in staggered stages and the following week we will look at relocating the residences,” he added.
However, he said the earliest those affected residents can move into these temporary housing units will be next week.
Amirudin said that he is also in talks with Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) on temporary measures to aid affected residents in terms of housing.
Residents have been displaced following a blast caused by a leak in a Petronas gas pipeline here in Putra Heights.
As of yesterday, Amirudin said that 1,254 people have been impacted by the disaster, with 308 families having registered for assistance with the Community Welfare Department.
Currently, 157 families made of 630 victims remain housed in two temporary shelters.
The disaster has caused significant damage to homes, with 87 properties destroyed and deemed beyond repair. Another 148 homes were damaged but are still repairable.
