Deputy Finance Minister Donald Lim is adamant that the Selangor government has only built meagre numbers of affordable housing, despite a clarification from Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua to the contrary.

NONE Producing a written reply from Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim during the March-April legislative assembly meeting today, Lim (left) pointed out that the charts specifically state that only 287 units of low-cost housing have been completed since 2008.

“This is black and white, it is not coming from me,” he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby this morning.

However, Lim, a civil engineer by training, was dismissive of the possibility that the reply may be outdated when it was pointed out that a sentence states that 1,422 more units were expected to have been completed by June this year.

“No, I’m looking at this figure on how many have been completed. That one sentence, I don’t know, it can be anything,” he said.

“We are engineers, we look at charts. If it is completed it should be here (in the chart). Don’t look at other sentences.”

Pua had last Thursday rebutted Lim’s assertion, stating that 5,526 units of low- and medium-cost houses have been completed out of 23,637 units planned.

However, Lim refused to accept the explanation, telling Pua not to be a “busybody”.

"Tony Pua is acting like the menteri besar... The Selangor menteri besar or excos like Ronnie Liu and Teresa Kok should have the responsibility to answer this," he said.

‘No poor people in PJ?’

Lim claimed that, when he was Petaling Jaya Selatan MP, at least 6,000 affordable housing units had been constructed in his constituency alone.

"But I have been informed that ... PKNS (Selangor Development Corporation) has used (land to build) malls ... doesn't Petaling Jaya have poor people?" he asked.

NONE He also took a swipe at Pua (right) for stating that the provision of low-cost housing is the federal government's responsibility.

Lim noted that state governments, too, have an obligation to see to the needs of the people.

He also said that if Pua’s data is correct, the Selangor government should back this up by quantifying the units and stating where they have been built.

"They should also say who has got (the units and the criteria for eligibility). Don't just give it to DAP members,” he added.

On Oct 25, Iskandar Samad, the Selangor exco in charge of housing, had described Lim's claim as factually inaccurate and had promised to furnish the figures at the next state legislative assembly sitting.