WHAT is the point of the high-end property freeze if exemptions have already been given to certain projects, said PJ Utara MP Tony Pua.

Pua also asked if all other ‘planned’ high-end developments, which have yet to submit their planning applications, will also get exemptions.

“These exemptions raise two worrying questions about the government’s planned freeze on high-end developments.

“Firstly, it would mean that the effectiveness of the supposed ban on high-end projects would be severely diluted.

“Bank Negara’s report showed just how grave the supply and demand imbalance was, projecting 1-in-3 office spaces being vacant in the Klang Valley by 2021, if measures aren’t taken to control it.

“If this freeze on high-end developments is to be taken seriously at all, the government has to make sure it is fairly enforced across the board,” he said in a statement today.

Works Minister Fadillah Yusof had said the freeze did not apply to all projects and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

He said that the selective approval of high-end real estate developments will help address the country’s property glut in the luxury segment.

Putrajaya has temporarily frozen approvals for luxury property developments since November 1 due to a glut in the sector.

Pua said an example is the Bandar Malaysia project, which Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had declared the plans for the project ‘approved’ even before a master developer has been selected in order to circumvent the Cabinet luxury development ban.

He said Tengku Adnan had confirmed yesterday that the 1MDB-linked Bandar Malaysia and Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) would not be affected by the freeze on property approvals for condominiums, serviced apartments, offices and shopping complexes priced above RM1 million.

Tengku Adnan said that the two projects had already received approval ‘in principle’ and could not be stopped from developing.

“It is quite clear here that the government’s only principle here is to protect the interests of 1MDB.

“TRX and Bandar Malaysia are two of 1MDB’s largest assets that need to be developed if the fund wants any chance of staying afloat. They are also two of the biggest slated development projects in Kuala Lumpur,” Pua said.

Pua also said that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has yet to declare a winner to the tender for the master developer of Bandar Malaysia.

“The latest response from the MOF last week is that there are eight companies which have ‘expressed interest’ in developing the massive 486-acres project.

“Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) Mayor Mohd Amin Nordin had himself told Malaysiakini that they had yet to receive an application from Bandar Malaysia.

“Why does 1MDB gets the special treatment which discriminates against all private businesses?” he said.

Pua reiterates that the purported ‘blanket ban’ against high-end projects with unit values above RM1 million is a hare-brained knee-jerk reaction which is faulty due to the unfair and substantial exemptions granted.

“In addition, the policy itself will not only fail to achieve its objectives because it is not properly targeted, it will create greater distortions in the market as well as turn away both domestic and foreign investors.” – November 24, 2017.