Aerial view of Island A reclamation site

Despite numerous objections from various parties, the Penang government will proceed with the Penang South Islands (PSI) project, formerly known as Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said it is not about choosing one or the other – referring to the PSI, the environment issue and fishermen welfare.

“We only disagreed on cancelling the project. We do not have to choose between PSI, and the environment and fishermen. Technology and engineering advancements can allow us to build PSI and preserve the environment and the people at the same time,” he said in a statement here today.

He said the state has been listening and agreed with the concerned parties on the importance of taking climate change into consideration and protecting the welfare of fisherman.

“This is why we are implementing so many mitigation measures, carrying out a socioeconomic plan for fishermen, and introducing green initiatives for the PSI development. Suffice to say that such a massive and comprehensive plan to improve the fishing community has never been done before anywhere in the country.”

Lately, various parties including Permatang Pauh Member of Parliament (MP) Nurul Izzah Anwar, Kepala Batas MP Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tunku Jaafar, Consumers Association of Penang, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, civil society groups including Penang Forum and fishermen’s groups had objected and called for the project to be cancelled.

However, Chow, who is also the Tanjong MP, said the people should consider the many socio-economic benefits PSI will bring to Penang that have greater value than monetary returns.

“We never denied that the project will have impact but we have always shared with the people how we intend to mitigate the impact, create new habitats for marine life, and provide more job and business opportunities for fishermen and other locals,” he said.

He explained that the job creation and economic growth stimulated by domestic and international investments will give financial stability and security to the people; while the green initiatives like low carbon developments and transportation, use of renewable energy, and provision of open spaces will contribute towards improving liveability and public wellbeing for decades to come.

“We strongly believe we are able to achieve all the above while also being fully compliant to the stringent approval conditions imposed by DoE (Department of Environmental). As such, no precedence should be set by the Government whereby approval for projects is reversed even though all approval conditions are being met,” he said.

Under the PSR project, the state government is proposing to reclaim about 1,821 hectares of the sea to build three islands south of the Penang International Airport towards the east around Permatang Damar Laut to create a land bank that will be utilised to finance the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) project.

Source: EdgeProp.my

A newly proposed affordable housing development by DH Land Sdn. Bhd. at Permatang Pauh. Located on 1.68 acres land along Jalan Permatang Pauh, diagonally opposite Caltex petrol station. It is only 1km to Butterworth/Kulim Expressway interchange, less than 5 minutes drive to Sunway Carnival Mall at Seberang Jaya. This is the third affordable housing scheme proposed within the same vicinity, following Residensi Permatang Pauh and Signature 3 which were introduced in 2017 and early 2021 respectively.

This development comprises a 32-storey apartment, featuring 299 affordable housing units with 8 levels of car parking podiums.

The project is still pending approval. More details to be available upon official launch.

Project Name : (to be confirmed)
Location : Permatang Pauh
Property Type : Affordable housing
Land Tenure: (to be confirmed)
Total Units: 299
Built-up Size: (to be confirmed)
Indicative Price: RM200,000 – RM250,000 (affordable price guide)
Developer : DH Land Sdn. Bhd.

DISCLAIMER: This article is solely based on research done using publicly available data. This is not an advertisement. Any claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a project or service should be verified with the developer, provider or party in question.

By Anders Ong

There have been so many misconceptions in the market about real estate negotiators and agents. Most people assume negotiators are the same as brokers and brokers are the same as negotiators without fully understanding the risk they have by engaging brokers. Some complained that realtors had lied about selling prices and jack up prices when they sell the house without informing and profiteering.

But back to the basic first who is who and why do we need to engage a real estate negotiator.  Property owners or investors whom need to rent out or sell off some of their properties and have someone trusted to manage the property for them because they may be occupied with work and need professionals to handle the property may engage a negotiator. Only REN, PEA, and REA can represent sellers, landlords, buyers & tenants in the sale and marketing of properties and monitored under BOVAEA.

Who Is Malaysia Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents (BOVAEA)

BOVAEA is known as Lembaga Penilai, Pentaksir, Ejen Harta Tanah & Pengurus Harta (LPPEH) – the body tasked in regulating the Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers in Malaysia.

Who Is Real Estate Negotiator (REN)

A Real Estate Negotiator (REN) is an individual employed by Real Estate Agent under a registered firm. Every REN must attend to a two-day course on Real Estate professions and will be issued with a certificate of attendance which has a validity of one year from the date of issue. The certificate will enable the individual to be hired under “Contract of Service” or “Contract for Service” with a Real Estate firm. Once attached, the firm will apply REN tag with BOVAEA for the realtor.

Who Is Probationary Estate Agent (PEA)

A Probationary Estate Agent (PEA) is an individual whom undergoing training and practical under an estate agency firm. They will have to submit their report and underwent interviews before they could obtain their Real Estate Agent License.

Who Is Real Estate Agent (REA)

A Real Estate Agent or Principal is a certified professional individual who can open a real estate firm and hire REN and PEA. They can provide real estate services in sales, rent, invest, or sourcing for a property. REAs are property professionals registered under the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents (BOVAEA).

Who Is Illegal Agent (BROKER)

A Broker is an illegal agent who solicits real estate activities and carries out real estate services without a license. They can be anyone whom are not licensed but requesting commission for their services and may cheat, absconding, misrepresent, mislead and profiteering from clients as they are not monitored under any firm REA or BOVAEA and may jeopardise the image of the real estate industry.

Punishment for Illegal Brokers

Section 22C of the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act states that:

No person shall unless he is a registered Estate Agent and has been issued with an authority to practice-

• Practice or take up employment under any name, style or title containing the words “Estate Agent”, “House Agent”, “Property Agent”, “Land Agent”, “House Broker” in any language which may reasonably be construed to imply that he is a registered Estate Agent or that he is engaged in estate agency practice.

Brokers if convicted, may be liable to a fine not exceeding RM300,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or both.

How to Make Sure They Are Real Agent?

1. Check Their ID – There will be three types of ID for licensed realtors and most of the time we will be dealing with Real Estate Negotiators (REN) RED ID, Probationary Estate Agents (PEA) RED ID, and Real Estate Agents (REA) BLUE ID. Only those with tags are licensed and authorised by the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia (BOVAEA or LPPEH) to render real estate services. The ID may contain the realtor’s information’s such as picture, name, company name and firm registration numbers. All licensed realtors are required to wear their ID during their working period for customers to identify them to be genuine realtors.
2. Scan Their ID – Every ID will have its special unique QR code which will lead you to the Lembaga Penilai, Pentaksir, Ejen Harta Tanah & Pengurus Harta website and display the realtor’s information such as registration number, full name, NRIC number, property agency attached, and expiry of their license.
3. Visit Boards Website – If we do not check the realtor’s ID then, we can direct search for their registration with the board at the following address http://search.lppeh.gov.my/ . The page can be used to search for the firms, members, and negotiators registration. Members search are for PEA and REA meanwhile negotiators are for REN. Remember not all property firm are licensed and allowed to conduct real estate business, unless they are licensed so there is firm search as well. Most illegal firm will classify their company as asset management or property consultancy firm without valid E-Registration number.

READ MORE: Everything about certified real estate negotiators & agents (Part 2 of 2) – Benefits and commission rate

Anders Ong – PEA, Property Investor, Writer, Speaker, Real Estate Coach, Property Market Analyst & Author of Back To Property Investment To Create Wealth

Aerial view of Northern Seberang Perai

Bukit Tengah assemblyman Gooi Hsiao Leung has proposed that the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) develops a master improvement plan for kampungs in the whole of Seberang Perai.

The PKR assemblyman said the plan should include upgrading works to the physical conditions of the kampungs in Seberang Perai especially to improve the poor drainage and sewerage systems in the villages.

He said there is a start contract on how civic infrastructure and assets are distributed between residential housing estates and kampungs where the latter have less access to such infrastructure.

“This imbalance of access to civic assets is serious considering there are over 288 kampungs in Seberang Perai, of which the residents in total represent a sizable percentage of Seberang Perai’s population,” he said in a statement today.

He said MBSP should come up with a plan for kampungs other than adding infrastructure improvements in kampungs into its draft local plan.

He said the kampung residents often do not have access to public amenities and services such as landscaping and door-to-door refuse collection services, adequate street lighting and maintenance of roads.

The Penang state government recently extended the deadline for public feedback on the Seberang Perai draft local plan to July 9 due to the total lockdown.

Gooi said the Seberang Perai draft local plan covers 73,841 hectares of land mass, which is 2.5 times larger than the entire size of Penang island.

The local plan will be the master document used as a framework for Seberang Perai’s development plan for the next 10 years.

He said the local plan should not neglect the needs of the under-served population living in disadvantaged and marginalised neighbourhoods.

“I urge MBSP to pay special attention, in its local plan, to prioritise, improve and upgrade civic infrastructure and assets that serve communities in existing neighbourhoods beyond the centres of development corridors highlighted in the local plan,” he said.

He said investments in civic assets such as open spaces, playgrounds, parks, jogging tracks, basketball and sepak takraw courts, community centres and multipurpose halls are most needed to benefit the community.

“As it stands, civic assets in many of our neighbourhoods are in a state of neglect, disrepair and require long term upgrading and maintenance,” he said.

He said there is also a serious shortage of public facilities such as community centres and multipurpose halls to cater for the population size of Seberang Perai Tengah.

He said the local plan should not only focus on high impact development projects to spur economic growth but also look into improving infrastructure for Seberang Perai as a whole and also individual neighbourhoods and kampungs.

Source: MalayMail.com

Aerial view of Bayan Lepas FIZ

Looking at the grave Covid-19 situation, the Penang government is ready to help expedite applications to turn vacant commercial buildings (away from housing schemes) into worker dormitories and also help expedite the application process to set up temporary worker dormitories at factory grounds.

State Local Government, Housing, Town and Country and Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said there were presently 15 applications – two from the island and 13 from the mainland – for the establishment of worker dormitories.

He said three quarters of the new clusters in Bayan Lepas came from the industrial areas.

“We need to up the ante to ensure that the foreign worker dormitories are sited in proper liveable conditions that are contained and controlled,” Jagdeep told a press conference after conducting a standard operating procedure (SOP) compliance check on the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Pulau Tikus today.

“Otherwise this Covid-19 pandemic will continue.

“To build a dormitory will take a normal process of three years or four years. Because of that, Penang has a new approach. We are looking at unoccupied commercial buildings which are far away from housing schemes.

“The whole idea is to get them (foreign workers) out of housing schemes so that they can be controlled in a certain area, but in very good living conditions.

“So, we have two ways. One is to find commercial buildings which are far away from housing schemes. There are now quite a number of unoccupied commercial buildings, especially during this Covid-19 period. And we assist by entertaining applications for conversion into commercial lots for dormitory purposes.

“The second way is that we are considering applications from those big factories which have available land at their plants to build temporary worker dormitories.”

Jagdeep said two worker dormitories had so far been built in Penang, one in Batu Maung and the other in Bukit Minyak, catering to 6,221 beds.

He added that seven other schemes were ongoing which would provide a total of 61,918 beds while two more applications to provide a total of 10,700 beds, were in the process of consideration.

“In all the 11 schemes, we would have a total of 78,839 beds. But this is not enough. In Penang, we have about 200,000 foreign workers and we have not even reached 50%. We still got a lot of work to do,” Jagdeep said.

On the SOPs at the church, Jagdeep said he was satisfied with the measures taken and their compliance rate.

“It’s very unfortunate that the church doors have to be closed, just like other religious bodies. Only 12 people are allowed to be at the places of worship during this MCO.

“We all need to pray together as a family to win this war over Covid-19. This virus does not care what your religion is. We need to pray hard and overcome it.”

Jagdeep also called upon Penangites who have not registered for vaccination to do so and also urged the Federal Government to expedite the supply of the vaccines to all states.

Later, Jagdeep presented some 100 packets of essential items to Penang Eurasian Association president Datuk Aloysius Gasper for them to be distributed to their members during this challenging time.

Also present at the press conference were Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit, and police representatives and Penang Island City Council (MBPP) enforcement officers.

Source: Buletin Mutiara