THE Penang Housing Department was forced to evict a group of residents from the Padang Tembak PPR (people’s public housing) after they were found to still be violating of rules and conditions despite repeated warnings, said Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

“The housing department won’t take action without regard to the guidelines.

“The residents had violated the guidelines and could not be allowed to continue occupying the PPR units,” Chow told reporters in response to a protest launched by the evicted residents yesterday.

After being given several chances but still failing to adhere to guidelines, Chow said the residents were then given another six months to find themselves new homes.

Yesterday, housing authorities evicted several of the families from the flats. Two men, including Parti Sosialis Malaysia activist R. Karthiges, were detained by the police for trying to obstruct the officers. The duo were released last night on police bail.

At about noon, Karthiges and several residents turned up at Komtar and protested the evictions in front of the entrance to the state administrative offices.

The eviction issue was first raised in late December last year, when several families were told to move out because they had lost the qualification to occupy the state government-managed units that were rented out to the poor at very cheap rates.

Some had continuously failed to pay rent, while others violated conditions such as the requirement for both spouses to be Malaysian citizens.

Chow said there were many other deserving poor families in Penang waiting for the units.

“There are 1,800 applicants on the waiting list. Perhaps the parties assisting this group of residents can appreciate this situation that we face.

“Perhaps they can talk to the 1,800 people. They will likely get an earful,” he said.

Last December, after the issue was first raised, state housing exco Jagdeep Singh Deo told The Malaysian Insight that Penang was forced to be strict in dealing with PPR units because there were just not enough to go around.

The state has the lowest number of government PPR units in the country. Putrajaya confirmed in a parliamentary answer in May 2016 that out of the 102,118 PPR units nationwide, only 999 were in Penang. – June 6, 2018.