Mah Sing Group Bhd has revised its gross development value (GDV) for its Southbay City project in Batu Maung, Penang, to approximately RM2bil from RM1.5bil previously.

Group chief operating officer Teh Heng Chong said in an interview that this was because new components such as a shopping mall, hotels and a wharf were being planned for Southbay City.

“The new components will be developed in stages over the next two to three years,” Teh said.

Currently, the Southbay Plaza commercial cum residential components and The Loft is being developed, Teh added.

“We are currently carrying out works on the basement cum car park and the substructure of the Southbay Plaza which comprises a podium of retail outlets and two blocks of condominiums.

“We have 48 months to complete the projects,” Teh said.

This year, Mah Sing expects the projects from Penang to generate about 13% of the group’s projected RM3bil revenue, according to Teh.

“The Klang Valley is expected to contribute 60% to 70% of the revenue, while Johor and Sabah will generate 20% and 5%, respectively,” he said.

On the RM280mil The Loft project, Teh said the project would be situated on an elevated land overlooking the sea and the second bridge.

“The Southbay Plaza condominium units facing the sea were mostly taken up by overseas buyers. The Loft condominium units, with built-up areas ranging from 1,300sq ft to 1,600sq ft, will face the sea and the second bridge.

“It is a low density scheme as there are only 156 units in two towers, with only three units per floor,” he said.

The Loft is priced competitively at about RM900 per sq ft, said Teh.

“Most properties facing the sea are priced from RM1,000 per sq ft in the present market,” he said.

The Loft is equipped with facilities such as a pool bar seating lounge, a multi-layer swimming pool, gymnasium and sky deck.

Teh said The Loft would be showcased in Hong Kong and Sabah tomorrow and Sunday and in Singapore on July 20 and 21.

“We will also launch our new sales office in Singapore on July 15 to promote our range of properties,” he said.

The Loft project will be officially launched next month. Southbay City is part of the Southbay@Penang project which sits on a 35.6ha site in Batu Maung.

About one-third of the site has been used for the development of Legenda@Southbay and Residence@Southbay, comprising bungalows and super-linked landed properties. The remaining two-thirds are being used for the development of Southbay City.

Source: StarProperty.my

GEORGE TOWN: Penang is in its final stage of applying for city status for George Town, said state Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow.

“The state secretariat is presently in its final discussion with Chief Secretary Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.

“We were supposed to have a meeting last month but it was postponed to August,” he told reporters after the Penang Municipal councillors’ swearing-in at the Town Hall in Esplanade yesterday.

Chow added that the state had complied with all the requirements in terms of paperwork, mapping and gazetting of areas.

“We have fulfilled all criteria such as the updating of the map due to the many new boundaries after the reclamation of many areas.

“We are waiting for the final endorsement from the Cabinet. Only the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can declare a city status for a town,” he said, hoping that the process could be expedited.

George Town was the first town in the country to achieve city status when Queen Elizabeth II conferred it the status in 1957 but when the George Town City Council merged with the Penang Rural District Council to become the Penang Island Municipal Council in the 1970s, it lost the city status.

Meanwhile in his speech, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he had instructed the Penang Municipal Council to install at least a street lamp a day and to complete the installation of 70 extra CCTVs by end of the year ahead of its schedule completion time in next year.

“We are hoping to increase the state voluntary patrol unit members from 7,000 to 10,000,” he said, adding that the most effective way to combat crime was when the community took care of their own areas.

Source: StarProperty.my

PETALING JAYA: Property buyers will no longer have the option to take loans for longer than 35 years. Anyone taking a personal loan can now only do so for a period of up to 10 years.

These are new rules set by Bank Negara with the aim of helping to reduce household debt in the country.

Before the new caps, property buyers could take loans for up to 45 years, while personal loans could be paid back over a period of up to 25 years.

Bank Negara is acting because Malaysia’s household-debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is a high 83%. It is the highest in emerging Asia.

The stricter lending guidelines also saw the central bank prohibiting the offering of pre-approved personal financing products.

These new measures to tackle household debt will also be extended to all financial institutions and credit cooperatives regulated by Bank Negara, the Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission, Malaysia Building Society Bhd, and Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd.

All these institutions will also need to follow responsible lending limits. New borrowers, especially those with lower incomes, can only take on debt amounting to 60% of their monthly take home pay.

The new limits will not affect loan applications made before yesterday.

Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, in a briefing yesterday, said the household debt was not yet at an alarming level, but based on present trends it would eventually be so.

Extremely long property loan periods “encourage excessive debt accumulation by households and increases the vulnerability of this (the household) sector,” she said.

Industry players said the measures would have a limited impact on the property market because the older generation of Malaysians had already bought into the property cycle.

They said the latest caps would mainly affect the younger generation.

“They are the ones who will need loans with the extra tenure, not the older generation who are mainly able to afford (higher monthly repayments),” said IOI Properties’ director Teh Chin Guan.

“In the short term, the level of affordability for the younger generation will be lower at today’s prices,” he added.

Elvin Fernandez, managing director at property consultant Khong & Jaafar, said these moves by the central bank should be applauded because property loans with a tenure of more than 40 years was not advisable.

Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Michael K.C. Yam believed the measures were a “good pre-emptive move because Malaysians are not very disciplined when it comes to these matters”.

“In other countries the maximum tenure is usually 25 years or until the person reaches the retirement age of 55,” he added.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations president Datuk Marimuthu Nadason also supported the new measures.

“But I urge Bank Negara to work with civil societies like us on financial literacy education, which Malaysians sorely lack,” he said, pointing out that 51 people were declared bankrupt daily in the country.

Korisatan Karu­ppiah, Penang Consumers Protection Asso­ciation president, said borrowers should be allowed to repay their loans ahead of schedule, without penalty.

“The lenders argue that they have already made plans with your money over the tenure you agreed with, and that paying back the sum early affects their plans,” he said.

He said the penalty was a fine, of between RM10,000 and RM35,000, depending on the size of the loan.

Source: StarProperty.my

THE Penang Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas has called for support for the four major infrastructure projects worth RM6.3bil that was proposed by the state government.

He said there was a need to upgrade the road infrastructure in Penang to be on par with developed countries.

“Thus, the state’s intention to implement the RM6.3bil project to resolve traffic issues should be supported,” he said yesterday in his speech when opening the first sitting of the first term of 13th Penang State Legislative Assembly.

The project comprises a 4.2km bypass connecting Gurney Drive to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway, a 4.6km bypass connecting the expressway to Air Itam, a 12km paired road between Tanjung Bungah and Teluk Bahang and a 6.5km undersea tunnel connecting Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam.

The tunnel project had however come under fire from some non-governmental organisations and politicians who feared that it would bring negative environmental and economic impacts.

Abdul Rahman said a feasibility study and Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment would be carried out to ensure that the projects are safe for implementation and can be completed well.

On power supply, he said Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) would build a RM3bil power plant in Prai which would be completed in 2016.

He said that from 2015 to 2018, the utility company aimed to increase the distribution of electricity in the state with the construction of eight 842 megawatt main intake substations at a cost of RM589.5mil.

Abdul Rahman also said the state government had identified seven sites statewide for its affordable housing projects.

He said there would be a total of 22,172 units, of which 3,152 units would be built on the island and the rest on the mainland.

He said more than 19,000 people had registered their interest to purchase units at two projects – in Jalan S.P. Chelliah where 1,900 units will be built and Bandar Cassia in Batu Kawan which will have 520 units.

On healthcare, Abdul Rahman said the state was setting up dialysis centres in Balik Pulau and Seberang Jaya at a total cost of RM4mil to provide subsidised treatment for poor patients.

“The state hopes to start operating the centres by the end of the year,” he added.

In his speech that lasted close to an hour, Abdul Rahman also extended his condolences to the family of victims who died in the second Penang bridge ramp collapse on June 6 and freak storm on June 13.

Other issues he touched on included investments, traffic and transportation management, tourism, agriculture, welfare, sports, youth, women’s development and Islamic matters.

Source: StarProperty.my

THE opening of the second Penang bridge has been delayed in order to complete work on the bridge ramp and ground works on a section of the flyover ramp which collapsed on June 6.

The bridge project developer is Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB).

Its public relations and communications deputy manager Azizi Azizan said the bridge was supposed to open in September but the opening had now been deferred to October.

“The company would like to complete the construction of the ramp and ground works of the section of flyover ramp before finally opening the project in October,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Azizi said a proposal would be submitted to the Penang Municipal Council and the Public Works Department this week to continue with the closure of the 2km stretch from the junction of Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and Hilir Sungai Kluang 1 in Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone Phase Four until October to facilitate the ground works.

He said the company had a meeting with the relevant departments yesterday to inform them that it would be submitting the proposal.

The 2km stretch was closed after a section of the flyover ramp to the second Penang bridge collapsed, killing former policeman Tajudin Zainal Abidin, 45.

Tajudin, who was heading home at that time, died after his car was crushed under the collapsed section of the ramp.

Earlier yesterday, Penang Works, Utility and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng and Batu Maung assemblyman Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim visited the junction of Hilir Sungai Kluang 1 and Lintang Bayan Lepas, some 500m away from the entrance of the closed stretch.

Abdul Malik said traffic lights were installed at the junction on Friday to control the traffic heading towards Batu Maung.

“The installation, which took three weeks, cost about RM80,000,” he told a press conference.

He added that the council would soon paint more yellow boxes along the road to facilitate traffic in the area.

Source: StarProperty.my