Only a small percentage of the housing projects which have been approved by the government over the past decade had failed, said the Housing and Local Government Ministry today.

The ministry said that from 1990 to July 2004, out of a total of 10,553 licences issued to housing developers, only 122 remain undeveloped.

Housing Minister Ong Ka Ting said the low figure was because a sizable number of abandoned housing projects have since been rescued.

"This means that the number of projects that are still abandoned is only 1.16 percent," said Ong at the Parliament lobby this morning.

Ong was speaking at a press conference after his response in Dewan Rakyat to questions surrounding the problems of abandoned housing projects which punished home buyers who had already made payments.

"Of the 199 housing projects that had previously been identified as abandoned (since 1990), the government, with the cooperation of the various (industry) players, has successfully recovered 77 projects," he added.

Of the remaining 122 abandoned projects, eight have been deemed to be 'irrecoverable' and thus abandoned by the buyers themselves, whereas 15 projects previously abandoned by developers have been taken over by other developers and these were in the process of revival, said Ong.

"(This means) there is still 99 housing projects that are being attended to."

Errant developers to be punished

Concerns have been expressed by various quarters regarding the housing woes plaguing the country, particularly the issue of abandoned housing, which have left some home buyers on the lurch.

Ong said that the proposals from various parties suggesting ways to solve the abandoned housing problem would be incorporated into a report by the ministry, which will then be presented to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the cabinet.

Such ideas as the 'build then sell' concept and, more recently, the proposal for an insurance scheme for housing projects suggested last Friday by the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association, would be taken into consideration, said Ong.

Ong also said that 42 cases of non-compliance with the payment orders of the House Buyer Claims Tribunal had been identified and will be prosecuted should they fail to pay by the date specified.

"In these 42 cases, notices have been prepared by the ministry's legal advisors. When the due date (to comply) expires and they still have not paid, then the process of prosecuting will commence."

The minister warned that non-compliance of a decision by the tribunal is a criminal offence.