CITY Hall (DBKL) is identifying Public Housing (PA) and People’s Housing Project (PPR) flat tenants in the federal capital who are eligible for the Rent Arrears Payment Services Scheme (Skim Khidmat Menjelaskan Tunggakan Sewa).

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said the initiative was to help tenants in need of assistance to settle their unpaid monthly rent.

“I have asked DBKL to get the list of tenants and do a ‘whitening’ process to identify those who really need assistance. We will try find them a job and other forms of aid to enable them to settle their rent arrears.

“But for those who are eventually found to own a car and handphone, and subscribing to Astro… living rather luxuriously… we will have to take action as there are many more who qualify to receive assistance,” he said after opening the Malaysia Games Festival @ Kuala Lumpur at Dataran Merdeka today. 

He said that DBKL had incurred a loss of RM58 million in rent arrears, while the monthly rental was only RM124 per unit.

“This did not start when Pakatan Harapan took over the government. There have been PA and PPR flat tenants who have not paid their monthly rent at all from the beginning (of their stay).

“Even this, we have to tackle carefully as we know there are certain groups who will turn this into a political issue. The problem is, when we want to do something right, it will be politicised,” he said.

Meanwhile, the fifth edition of the Malaysia Games Festival organised by the National Department for Culture and Arts is aimed at building interest in and preserving traditional games from disappearing.

With more than 1,000 participants from the uniformed bodies and corporate sector, the festival featured 20 traditional games of the country’s various communities, such as batu seremban, congkak, sepak raga, blow-piping and tug of war. – Bernama, September 15, 2019.