AN Umno MP has complained that Putrajaya’s affordable housing programme under PR1MA had failed to meet its objective as the homes were out of Malaysians’ price range.

Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) said these homes were advertised as “mampu milik” (affordable) but carried price tags that meant aspiring homeowners could only afford to look (mampu tengok).

“They are still too expensive for the people.

“At these prices, the policy of affordable housing is almost impossible. We can only look at the houses but not buy . I’ve received complaints that PR1MA has lost its sight of its objective,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Bung also asked the minister in charge to explain at length what the  government was doing to help Malaysians own homes.

Bung’s remarks prompted Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mangor to defend PR1MA and deny that it had strayed from its purpose.

He said the government had build plenty of affordable homes and had even provided solutions for buyers whose loan applications were rejected by the bank.

“I disagree as we have approved more than 70,000 units to be built for sale at a staritng price of RM188,000 up to RM300,000.

“We have had programmes such as in Desa Pandan where we redeveloped squatter areas to help the Indian community. We sold units for RM42,000 each.

“For those who had problems with bank loans, we asked Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan to help them by allowing them to repay the loans with RM300 per month,” Tengku Adnan said.

The federal territories minister said the People’s Housing Project scheme (PPR) in Kuala Lumpur had delivered subsidised homes sold at RM90,000, RM120,000 and RM200,000 each.

Tengku Adnan told Bung that as a Barisan Nasional representative, he should not make such claim against government policies.

“It is not fair for YB (Bung) to say that PR1MA homes are only for the eye to see.” – November 21, 2017.