THE Kedah state government will release Bumiputera property lots that have remained unsold for 5-10 years, said Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir.

“A levy will be imposed for the release and the funds collected will go to the Tabung Rumah Harapan,” said Mukhriz on the sidelines of the Kedah Malaysian Property Expo (Mapex) in Alor Star today.

He said the levies can go towards building Bumiputera properties in more suitable areas.

Earlier, Kedah & Perlis Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) chairman Rick Cheng said that there were some RM400 million worth of unsold Bumiputera lots in Kedah.

“The PAS government had introduced a new policy in 2011 whereby Darul Aman Aset Sdn Bhd was to sell unsold Bumiputera units within a year,” said Cheng.

But he said Darul Aman Aset had yet to sell a single unit.

“Moreover, more than RM100 million worth of Bumiputera lots have yet to be unfrozen although the conditions have been met,” said Cheng.

He said it was important for the Kedah state government to release these lots as it would free up capital needed by developers to build more housing.

Mukhriz said that releasing the affected lots did not mean that the state was forsaking its obligations to the Malays.

“We can’t have empty houses lying around for years that will only serve as drug dens and cause more social problems.

“The money can be re-channeled to building more affordable housing in suitable areas,” said Mukhriz.

Meanwhile, Mukhriz said the state will also discuss with the federal government and Bank Negara Malaysia on how to help lower income groups obtain housing loans.

“Some of them don’t have payslips or bank accounts even and it’s very difficult for them to obtain housing loans.

“We will also discuss with Bank Negara on how the lower income earners can obtain soft loans for longer repayment periods of up to 35 years.

“It’s very odd that the interest rate for those who borrow less is higher than for those who borrow millions of ringgit,” he added.

Kedah will also ask Bank Negara on how it could encourage banks to give soft loans to developers, said Mukhriz. – August 26, 2018.