The Penang government has reiterated that the projects under the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) would only start after the respective projects obtained the approvals.

State Transport and Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari (PH-Tanjong Bunga) said the Penang government would not start any of the project without first obtaining the required approval.

“We will also ensure that the conditions imposed are complied with,” he replied the oral question raised Ong Khan Lee (PH-Kebun Bunga) during the Penang State Legislative Assembly in Dewan Sri Pinang today.

Zairil said the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project had been presented to the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) on April 18 last year and the council had imposed 18 points of advice to be adhered to.

“The PSR project has received the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval on June 25 last year with 72 conditions. The project has also obtained the approval letter for its Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report from PLAN Malaysia on Aug 27 last year.

“In general, the PSR project has obtained all the mandatory approvals that are required from the Federal Government. The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) report, which is one of the 72 conditions imposed, has been submitted to the Department of Environment (DoE) on July 17 and is still awaiting approval,” he said.

Zairil added that Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) had been chosen as the lead masterplan designer for the PSR project after winning the Penang South Islands International Masterplan Design Competition.

As for the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (BL LRT) project, Zairil said the Phase One of the project had obtained the EIA approval on Feb 21 this year with 63 conditions.

“The Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) report has been approved on Aug 28 while the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report was approved on June 19. The BL LRT project has also obtained the conditional approval on July 18 last year.

Zairil said the Pan Island Link I (PIL I) project, which is another component of the PTMP, had obtained the EIA report approval with 56 conditions on April 10 last year.

“The Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) report was approved by the Public Works Department (JKR) and the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) on Aug 24, 2018,” he said.

Zairil said the project delivery partner (PDP) SRS Consortium is currently working on the PTMP financial architecture.

As for the three paired roads project, Zairil said the roads project had obtained the EIA report approval on Nov 7, 2017 with 59 conditions.

“Works have started on the 5.7km Air Itam-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass (Package Two) on Oct 31 last year.

“The project contractor is finalising the detailed design amendments for Tanjung Bungah-Teluk Bahang paired road (Package One) and the Gurney Drive-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass (Package Three).

“The Penang government is still reviewing the draft of the feasibility study report that was submitted by Consortium Zenith Construction (CZC),” he said.

He added that no land was transferred to fund the feasibility study for the undersea tunnel.

“The only land transferred was for the feasibility study and detailed design for the three paired roads project,” he stressed.

Source: Buletin Mutiara

The property market experienced a correction in terms of pricing with more affordable housing launched in the first half of 2020 (1H2020).

National Property Information Centre (Napic) director Aina Edayu Ahmad said half of the new launches in 1H2020 comprised houses priced at RM300,000 and below (6,657 units), while the RM300,001-RM500,000 houses accounted for 28.9% (4,476 units) and houses priced over RM500,000 accounted for 21.1% (2,161 units).

“So we see that the market has done its own correction. In the past years, we have seen more of new launches in the higher range but now we are seeing more new launches in the range of RM300,000 and below,“ she said in her presentation on the Overview of the Malaysian Property Outlook at the 13th Malaysian Property Summit yesterday.

She was representing Napic director-general A’zmi Abdul Latif.

Aina Edayu said new residential launches, however, recorded a substantial drop of 43.6% to 13,294 units in the 1H2020 from 23,591 units in 1H2019.

She said all property market activities across the board had decreased, leading to a major decline in the overall property sector.

“Residential sector remains as a major contributor to the property sector, accounting for over 65% of the volume and nearly 55% in terms of value,” she said.

Aina Edayu said Selangor and Johor have the highest concentration of properties in the residential, commercial and industrial sector.

“In terms of pricing, properties priced RM300,000 and below in the residential segment are still capturing most of the market demand, which is why we should focus on having more affordable houses in this price range to allow the national aspiration to be achieved,“ she said.

However, she said although demand for the affordable range is higher, affordability is another matter as it is subject to loan approvals.

She said Napic is not expecting prices to drop significantly despite the declining price in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 against Q1 2020 as prices seem to be holding up based on the Malaysian House Price Index, which showed a gradual upward movement in price for the past five years.

On the overhang in residential units, she said in 1H2020, the number of unsold residential properties rose to 31,661 units worth RM20.03 billion, compared with 30,664 units worth RM18.82 billion in 2H 2019, most of which were high-rise residential properties.

Of the overhang units, 21,683 were serviced apartments worth RM18.64 billion, an increase of 26.5 per cent in volume and 32.8% in value from 17,142 units worth RM15.04 billion in 2H2019.

Aina Edayu noted that the overhang in serviced apartments kept escalating over the years.

Units priced over RM1 million accounted for nearly one third (28.2%) of the overhang units, while those in the range of between RM600,000 and RM900,000 accounted for 47%.

“Nearly 16,000 of the total number of unsold serviced apartments are in Johor, whereby 34.3%of them are priced over RM1 million,” she said, adding that Selangor has 2,400 unsold units; 40.8 per cent of which priced between RM500,001 and RM600,000.

“Data also showed that properties over the RM500,000 price range accounted for about 69% of the overhang service apartment units,“ she said.

On outlook, Aina Edayu expects the property market to be influenced by the high level of uncertainties surrounding it, including the pace of the economic recovery, political stability and Covid-19.

“Although data did show some upturn in market activities earlier in the year, we would see a soft property market for the rest of 2020,“ she said.

Source: Bernama

Airbnb has today warned that Malaysia’s tourism recovery could be threatened by talk of proposed blanket bans on short-term rentals in strata buildings in Penang, Selangor and other states in Malaysia.

Prior to the pandemic, the Airbnb community in Malaysia made a significant contribution to the local tourism industry and economy. Research from Oxford Economics found in 2019 Airbnb guests spent a total of RM 4.4 billion (USD 1.1 billion) in Malaysia and supported more than 52,000 local jobs.

However, Airbnb’s role in helping kickstart Malaysia’s much-needed tourism recovery could be threatened by proposed blanket bans on short-term rentals in strata buildings. Earlier this year, Airbnb welcomed the Malaysia Productivity Corporation’s new guidelines for short-term accommodation, which provide an opportunity for the Malaysian government to simultaneously grow tourism and ensure compliance through responsible regulation.

“Airbnb believes all Malaysians should have the choice to responsibly and safely share their own home. We are strongly opposed to any unfair and heavy-handed blanket ban on short-term rentals in strata buildings,” said Mich Goh, Head of Public Policy, Southeast Asia, Airbnb. “The Malaysians who live in strata buildings rely on short-term rentals to earn extra income to pay the bills.”

“With economic recovery more important than ever, the key test for any policy must be – does it help grow the economy and create jobs for Malaysians? On that test, any proposal to ban short-term rentals in strata buildings fails. Blanket bans would have a devastating impact on the already weakened tourism industry. They threaten thousands of local jobs and the supplemental income that so many regular Malaysians rely on during these crucial times” she added.

By supporting clear and considered rules for short-term rentals in Malaysia that protect people’s choice to responsibly share their homes, while ensuring Joint Management Bodies and Management Corporations have appropriate oversight of short-term rentals in their buildings, Airbnb upholds its ongoing commitment to continue partnering with the Malaysian government and communities to spur tourism recovery.

The Penang Remand Prison and its staff quarters will be placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from today (Oct 15), said Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday.

He said the decision was made on the advice of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and taking into consideration the spike in new COVID-19 positive cases involving the prison cluster.

The implementation of the CMCO, he said, would allow it to control movements in and out of the area as well as facilitate COVID-19 screenings.

Alternative route

“The EMCO will involve a total of 2,830 individuals, comprising 2,306 inmates, 304 prison staff and their families living in the quarters as well as 220 other prison staff and their families who do not live there,” he said at a press conference from his home that was streamed live via the Defence Ministry’s Facebook page yesterday.

Ismail Sabri said that following the implementation of the EMCO, no movement in and out of the area would be permitted, while movement among prison staff would be determined based on the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the Prisons Department.

He also said that food and basic necessities would be distributed to the affected area and it would be coordinated by the North East District Disaster Operations Control Centre.

He also pointed out that inmates set to be released during the EMCO period would be isolated from others under remand.

“If the result of their test is negative, the inmates may be quarantined at a place to be decided by the Penang State Disaster Management Committee before being released.

“Those who test positive will be sent to hospital for treatment,” he said.

Ismail Sabri also said that police arrested 446 people yesterday for flouting the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).

Of the total, 407 were issued compound notices, 37 were remanded and two released on bail for offences which included not wearing face masks, failure to provide facilities for recording details of customers and conducting gambling activities.

Source: EdgeProp.my

The Penang State Government through the local authority (PBT) will issue a notice to stop homestay or Airbnb activities in residential areas.

Local Government, Housing Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Sing Deo said that the notice will also be issued for all modification and extension to the Airbnb unit.

“This notice will be issued under Section 27 (2) (a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 to stop activities carried out and restore land or buildings as before.

“For units involved with modification and extension, the notice issued is under the Roads, Drains and Buildings Act 1974.

“Therefore, demolition action will be taken on the units involved after the notice is issued,” he said when answering the question from Seri Delima State Assemblyman (ADUN), Syerleena Abdul Rashid at the Second Meeting of the 14th Penang State Assembly, just now.

Jagdeep said, for the strata building, the Council will advise the Joint Management Body (JMB) and the Management Corporation (MC) to make additional by-laws as stated in Section 32 (3) and Section 70 (2), Act 757.

“This is because there is no provision in act 757 related to the issue of homestay or Airbnb.

“Therefore, the JMB or MC is empowered under the section to make additional by-laws through a special resolution at the general meeting to regulate, manage the use of the strata property.

“Besides that, the JMB or MC can also impose a fine not exceeding RM200 on any owner who violates the by-laws,” he added.

According to Jagdeep, the State Government will also check with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) on the matter.

“The next action is to provide a complete set of guidelines for this activity, especially in residential areas,” he added.

Earlier, the Federal Court in the decision of the Innab Salil & Ors case. against Verve Suites Mont Kiara Management Corporation (2020) states that the management body of a share may prohibit any short-term lease on a flat from exercising its powers under Section 70 (2), Srata Management Act 2013 (APS).