The Better Malaysia Foundation (BMF) submitted its proposal to the government earlier this month on affordable homes for low-income earners in Malaysia, namely those from the B40 group.

BMF founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan told a press conference here today that the government was studying the proposal.

“(The proposal) was sent to the government. So I leave it to the government,” he said, although he declined to say who or which ministry in the government the proposal was submitted to.

Tan also said he was positive about the government accepting BMF’s proposal, although he was aware that there are a lot of technical matters that need to be sorted out.

He said the proposal, among others, included recommendations for the government to guarantee loans (for the B40 to own houses), 100 percent financing as well as longer tenure of up to 60 years for the housing loans.

900sf five-bedroom, four-bathroom show apartment

If banks agree to provide loans to the B40, a lot of housing developers will build affordable homes and that will be good for the country, Tan said.

Before the press conference, media representatives were given the opportunity to tour the show unit of 900 square feet five-bedroom, four-bathroom houses designed by the BMF for the B40 group.

The BMF recently launched a new social enterprise programme to assist the government in addressing home ownership aspirations of low-income Malaysians or the B40 households.

The social enterprise would facilitate the construction of properties with a low monthly cost of ownership, carefully designed for families to grow and prosper.

Not actual product. This is only meant to show how a 900 sqft 5R4B layout could work. (Source: Berjaya’s BMF website)

Source: Bernama

A newly proposed luxury residential development by Suria Damansara Sdn. Bhd. at Bukit Gambier. Strategically located on part of a 7-acre land off Jalan Bukit Gambier, next to the long-awaited Nadayu 290 Serviced Suites project which was made known in 2012. It is just a stone’s throw away from University Science Malaysia (USM), about 1km to the upcoming Ideal Residency affordable housing project by Ideal Property Group.

This development will see the construction of a 44-storey residential building, featuring 222 condominium units and 5 levels of car parking podium.

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

Project Name : (to be confirmed)
Location : Bukit Gambier
Property Type : Condominium
Land Tenure: (to be confirmed)
Built-up Area: (to be confirmed)
Total Units : 222
Developer : Suria Damansara 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.

About Urban Suites

A commercial property development by Aspen Vintage Sdn. Bhd. (Cosmopolitan Homes) in the established township of Jelutong.  It is easily accessible via Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and surrounded by abundance of amenities. Urban Suites comprises two 42- storey towers, featuring 596 units of commercial suites.

Find out more about Urban Suites

The CEO of Penang Development Corporation (PDC), Datuk Mohd Bakit, said that the PDC will focus on the “Urban Redevelopment Plan” in the future, through land re-planning and redevelopment plans, to bring more benefits to Penang and attract investors.

He shared in detail about the land development plan for Penang Island in an interview with “Buletin Mutiara”.

He said that the PDC was established in 1969, mainly to further promote Penang’s socio-economic development and moving towards the goal of an international city.

“After PDC launched the first industrial zone project in Bayan Lepas, it subsequently developed the Bayan Baru township to cater to the needs of local factories. Over the past 50 years, many development plans have matured and fulfilled their obligations and responsibilities.”

He took up the post of General Manager of PDC in 2019 and immediately launched the “PDC Strategic Blueprint” five-year short-term plan. Now the plan is in the mid-term.

Under the framework of the “Strategic Blueprint for PDC”, PDC is no longer the same as before by selling land and houses to make a profit. PDC is now also participating in project development leasing for long-term sustainability.

Increase land bank

Mohd Bakih said that the PDC also plans to increase land reserves for Penang. One way is to fill about 150 acres of land before Queens Bay to the Second Bridge through reclamation. Currently, it is seeking comprehensive development and land. Development plan (RFP).

“This plan will be based on the theme of the Linear Waterfront. The reclamation area will start from QueensBay Plaza to the front of Pulau Jerejak in the Second Bridge. Under this plan, we will add various infrastructures to create a waterfront. The park facing the beautiful scenery of Pulau Jerejak, I believe will become one of the hot spots for people to relax and attract tourists in the future.”

He said that the main goal of this development plan is to optimize the Bayan Baru Satellite City and promote the Penang Vision 2030, establish a new development zone and assist the Bayan Lepas Industrial Zone, while attracting future investment and increasing the number of states Government land reserves for the development of high-impact projects.

Redevelopment of Mahsuri Flat to start next year

PDC will focus on the “Urban Redevelopment Plan” in the future, and the Bayan Baru Mahsuri Flat will be the first redevelopment project, which is expected to start in 2022.

Mohd Bakih said that the organization had also held dialogue sessions with local residents and state councillors. Most residents agreed with this project because they know they would benefit from this project, including new housing units, comfortable living environment, etc.

“However, we are currently facing some legal restrictions, because the location of the Mahsuri Flat does not belong to the PDC. For this reason, we will work with the Government Housing Department to resolve this matter.”

Source: Buletin Mutiara

A food court that was razed by a fire last year will be rebuilt into a RM3.49 million disabled-friendly food court.

State traffic and infrastructure committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the structure will be the first green building index (GBI) certified public food court in Penang.

He said it will have environmentally friendly features such as a rain harvesting system and be redesigned with a lot of natural lighting and ventilation.

Zairil said the new design will place the food court on a flat platform with seating surrounding the stalls in the centre.

He added that it will still be a single-storey food court with the addition of storage space, a surau and an office.

“We will call for tender to appoint the contractor in May and the tender duration is three weeks,” he said during a press conference today.

Zairil said the project is expected to start work by July this year and to be completed by the end of the year.

“We hope to obtain CCC and open it by January next year,” he said.

The original food court was razed by a fire in November last year.

Zairil said the only option was to rebuild as the structure could not be salvaged as most of the roof and stalls were destroyed in the fire.

He said the state held several meetings on the food court before deciding on rebuilding it with state funds.

“Initially, we planned to give it to the city council but it doesn’t have the funds to rebuild it so this matter was brought up in the state exco in February and it was decided that the state will fund it,” he said.

He said Chief Minister’s Incorporated (CMI) will be the custodian for the land and eventually the state will alienate the land to CMI to manage fully.

The food court originally had a total 33 stalls but the new food court will have 40 stalls so that roadside stalls outside the food court could be shifted into the new complex.

As for the 33 affected hawkers, Zairil said they were called in for interviews to be offered other stalls in other places.

“Only 27 turned up for the interview, nine received offers to temporarily open their stalls in other complexes while the 18 others chose to wait for this food court to be completed,” he said.

He said all of the affected stalls were offered cash aid of RM500 each from Zakat in November last year and his office had also given every stall RM500 each in December.

He said the stalls also received RM500 aid in April 2020 and again in January this year, bringing the total cash aid they had received between last year and now to RM2,000 each.

As for the hawkers’ licences, he said the city council had to cancel them pending the construction of the new food court.

“This is so that there will not be accumulated arrears as the licensing system will automatically calculate their fees even though they are not operating so we have to cancel the licence for now and they will be offered lots in the new food court once it’s completed,” he said.

He said the cancellation of the licence will not affect the hawkers’ status and that all 33 affected hawkers will be offered lots in the new food court.

Source: MalayMail.com