Public housing in Penang has been thrust into the spotlight with the state BN Youth questioning why a certain project did not take off despite being planned for by the previous BN state government.

Penang BN Youth chief Oh Tong Keong criticised the present administration under Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for "taking land belonging to the poor and selling it to business".

NONE "We feel saddened... people want to have a home of their own but they can't do that now as the land has been sold," Oh ( right ) told a press conference in Penang yesterday.

He was accompanied by state BN Youth vice-chairperson and state Umno Youth chief Shaik Hussein Mydin.

Oh was referring to the second phase of a public housing project on a 0.45-hectare plot in Taman Manggis, off Jalan Burmah.

The first phase of the project, he said, involved 320 housing units on a 1.86-hectare plot that were completed in 2005.

The second phases was scrapped by the DAP-led government and the land in 2010 sold to a private developer to build a specialist medical centre.

Was there open tender for land sale?

Oh, who is also state Gerakan Youth chief, questioned whether the land was sold by open tender and how much it was sold for - an issue he demanded the state government to clarify immediately.

suaram forum on police 260910 wong hon wai In response, state housing committee chairperson Wong Hon Wai ( left ) said phase two of the project was not given approval by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

Wong said the state then received numerous proposals for use of the land, including one for a hostel to house civil servants, and the land was finally sold via open tender in 2010.

A 2.8ha parcel of land nearby (on Jalan SP Chelliah) has been set aside for a possible combination of an affordable housing and a people's housing project, he said, adding that the relevant departments were working on the technical details of this project.

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"So, after evaluating all the proposals, and with site on Jalan SP Chelliah in mind, the medical specialist centre was chosen," Wong added.

Other sites the state has also identified for affordable housing projects are Teluk Kumbar (2.4ha), Bukit Mertajam (4.8ha), Ampang Jajar (7.6ha), Kampung Jawa, Butterworth (4ha) and Juru (8ha).

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