A GROUP of residents from the Pykett Avenue, Khaw Sim Bee Road and Westlands Road area in Penang are raising queries and concerns about a high-rise property development in the vicinity.

The group said they were facing existing traffic problems and floods caused by heavy rains, and were worried about the environmental and social impact that the development would have on them.

Resident S.K. Ang of Lorong Pykett said a social impact assessment study had to be carried out along with a dilapidation survey on surrounding houses, to ensure no dispute during and after construction.

“As of now, we already have a spillover of cars in the area from existing residences. And floods will happen when it rains heavily,” she said when met at her house along with 10 other residents on Saturday.

Ang added that residents from the surrounding neighbourhood were also wondering what had happened to the Penang Municipal Council’s (MPPP) order that the developer rebuild a colonial era double-storey bungalow that it tore down without permission in July last year.

In January, the developer was fined RM6,000 by a magistrate’s court for illegally tearing down the bungalow, and MPPP subsequently issued the order for it to be rebuilt. To date, no work has been carried out yet.

It was reported that the developer planned to build four towers for a 315-unit apartment, with a five-storey podium for car park and public amenities on the 1.37ha plot.

“We’re not against development but why can?t it go hand-in-hand with preservation? Just because it’s easier to have development without preservation, doesn’t mean it can’t be done,” Ang said.

Another concern, she said, was the density of the units of the project.

“For an established housing area, the density is normally between 15 and 30 units per acre but the total of units planned for the project has exceeded that,” she claimed.

Another resident S.T. Cheah said that MPPP should ensure the environment was maintained and not disturbed by construction in terms of working hours, noise, dust and dirt.

In an immediate response, state Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the order to rebuild the bungalow still stands.

He added that discussions were ongoing between the developer and the council.

He also said he was arranging for a meeting with the residents soon to hear and provide feedback for their grouses.

“The council has already implemented the new ruling, where certain areas could have higher density per acre, for more than a year now,”? he said.

SOURCE: The Star

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Other Phases:

• Sunway Cassia – Phase 1
  
• Sunway Cassia – Semi-D (Final Phase)

Property Project : Sunway Cassia – Phase 2
Location : Batu Maung, Penang
Property Type : 3-Storey Terrace
Tenure : Freehold
Developer : Sunway City
Contact No: 04-643 9898

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has said the decision was made after public consultation and it also took into view that BHB had sent a letter of defamation to one of its assemblymen over public remarks in defending the interest of his constituents where the proposed reclamation was to take place.

Some view Lim's decision as one that was right and indicative of the state government's preparedness towards listening to the public, but investors are saying that such a stance could put their future commercial interests at risk.

Some investors were worried that the state government's latest move may be an indicator of how it will react in all future deliberations between commerce and being popular.

Recent issues have put the state government's transparency into question.

Among others, it did not inform the public that the state had inked a concession deal with SP Setia Bhd for the RM300 million subterranean Penang International Exhibition and Convention Centre (sPICE) project. It was only after pressure was exerted on the state that it was forced to divulge details of the project.

Individuals and special interest groups can also attest to writing to the state with questions and concerns on any potential plans to develop Penang Hill, only to find Lim failing to allay concerns or even respond to questions on the future of Penang Hill and whether there were plans for massive development there.

Months after George Town was listed on Unesco's World Heritage List, four property developers with projects in the city's heritage core and buffer zones were told to scale down the height of their projects.

They were told to do this as George Town was at risk of losing its World Heritage Site status because the height of their projects had exceeded a 18-metre or five-storey restriction.

BHB, along with Asian Global Business (AGB) Sdn Bhd, Eastern & Oriental Sdn Bhd and the Low Yat group, had received approvals to build above the 18-metre and five-storey limitation ahead of July 8 2008 when George Town was included on the World Heritage List.

BHB is not the only firm to be adversely affected by the state government's directive.

In the case of AGB, the company had to halt works on its proposed heritage restoration project known as the Rice Miller when the Penang Island Municipal Council did not renew its lapsed planning permission and withheld the building plan.

The company, at the time, had alleged that it was not informed by the council of the height restriction affecting its project when planning permission was given in 2007. The project has since broken ground.

It was in September last year that Lim confirmed that the state and BHB were in advanced stages of negotiation and that it would announce details of the solution and compensation later.

He had also confirmed a media report that BHB would be allowed to reclaim land as part of compensation for having to scale down its Royal Bintang Hotel project from 12 floors to five.

These were inconsistencies, elements hated most by investors when making their investment deliberations.

SOURCE: Business Times

Out of topic a little, but I think many are interested to know why it was a bad jam along Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Expressway this morning.

These photos are forwarded by one of the reader:

PETALING JAYA: Mah Sing Group Bhd will focus on lower-priced and smaller units of serviced apartments in the next two years to cater to demand of the young population.

Managing director/chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said the property developer would also offer lower-priced strata landed units.

“We are targeting to achieve sales of RM2.5bil next year and, in order to do this, we will adjust our product mix, in line with today’s sentiment and needs,” he told StarBiz.

He said the group had a sales target of RM2bil for this year. As of September, it had already achieved RM1.74bil in locked-in sales, he said, adding that the company had a total of 30 on-going projects. Last year, the company enjoyed RM1.5bil in sales.

“We are still positive on the sector for the next year and we hope, despite a prolong European debt crisis, there will be a soft landing. We believe the demand for properties will continue to be buoyant because we have a young population and there is a lot of rural-urban migration,” he said.

Leong said property purchase was very much driven by two factors – job security and sentiment.

The country’s savings rate and healthy employment market are the other factors contributing to the strong property sector.

“Beginner homes below RM500,000 will meet buyers’ needs,” he said.

The company will be offering residential properties ranging from landed with gated and guarded communities, smaller serviced apartments and small and versatile offices on commercial titles for the coming Star Property Fair from Nov 25 and 27. It will be promoting its projects in Icon City in Petaling Jaya, Icon Residence in Mont’Kiara, M City Jalan Ampang, Garden Residence in Cyberjaya and Kinrara Residence in Puchong. Although the company is promoting its Klang Valley projects, the group is also active in Johor, where it has five projects and another five in Penang.

“We see continued demand for landed residential properties in good location, especially in gated and guarded schemes. Investors know that land is scarce and construction cost will always continue to rise, although in manageable doses. It is inevitable that properties in good locations will continue to appreciate as well, and astute buyers will want to lock in their investments at today’s prices,” he said.

In today’s market, he said, prices of high-end homes were expected to soften a bit.

“We expect mid- to high-end unit to be popular. Semi-detached units priced at about RM1.4mil or thereabouts will be in demand. For bungalows it will be those RM3mil or thereabouts. The location, accessibility and the availability of amenities are other contributing factors to the success of a project,” he said.

At the same time, the company is also replenishing its land bank. It recently purchased a piece of land in Rawang of about 90ha for RM92mil.

SOURCE: The Star