November 21, KUANTAN – The Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government (KPKT) and the National Housing Department need to be more proactive to solve the problem of abandoned housing projects in Pahang.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said this was because the application and approval of the developer’s licences and permits for advertising and sales of the houses were under the jurisdiction of the Housing Developers Licensing Division under the department and the ministry.
“During construction, the developer must report the construction status to the Private Housing Monitoring Division and to overcome the problem of abandoned housing projects, all parties, namely the buyers, the developers and the local authorities, must be proactive and not to rely on the state government alone as we do not have the capability,” he said at the State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.
He said this in reply to Sim Chon Siang (PKR-Semambu) who wanted to know whether the government have the mechanism to solve the problem of abandoned projects, as well as to take legal action.
Adnan said to label such project as abandoned or otherwise, was the responsibility of the Abandoned Project Rehabilitation Division that would then undertake a revision of the housing project whether to appoint a new developer or to return the deposit to the buyers.
In reply to a supplementary question on whether the government would blacklist the directors of companies involved as a solution to the problem, Adnan said the move was not the best solution.
“I believe the move to blacklist director’s name will not solve the problem. There were many individuals who were declared bankrupt due to unpaid debt and yet they are still able to travel abroad every month, so this move (to blacklist) will not solve the problem,” he said.
Meanwhile, State Tourism and Culture Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsuddin said the state government would continue to promote Cherating as one of the major tourist destinations in the state by enhancing its facilities including accommodation in the effort to attract tourists to the area.
“Cherating used to be tourists’ paradise, but now the situation has changed. Tourists now prefer a more comfortable accommodation and that is why many of the old hotels and resorts in the area are upgrading the quality of their rooms and services,” he said in reply to Andasura Rabu (PAS-Beserah) who wanted to know the impact of the money spent by the state government to promote tourism in conjunction with the Pahang Visit Year 2017.
– BERNAMA