That the Penang government is going all out to revive another 12 housing projects abandoned by cash-strapped developers is proof of its genuine intention to provide affordable homes to the state's ever growing urban population, a state executive councillor stated today.

If revived, the projects which were abandoned from between four to eight years will provide about 15,000 low and low-medium flats to Penangites, especially in George Town, for the next five years.

State Housing, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committee chairperson Syed Amerrudin Syed Ahmad said serious negotiations were being held with the original and new developers, financial institutions and government agencies such as Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) to revive these projects which are scattered all over the state.

Negotiations are being carried out with the help of the Housing and Local Government Ministry and local municipalities.

Syarikat Asian Green Dev Sdn Bhd, Interlink General Services Sdn Bhd, Diamond Growth Sdn Bhd, Penas Realty Sdn Bhd, Alunan Ombak Sdn Bhd, Dominant Fame Sdn Bhd, Majestic Heights Sdn Bhd, Gewaris Sdn Bhd, Koperasi Pekatra Sdn Bhd, Eden Gourment Sdn Bhd and Perumahan Wira Seberang are the original developers who could afford to continue with the projects. The companies were hard hit by the 1997 financial crisis.

Political suicide

Syed Ameruddin said the authorities need to look for financially strong developers to ensure uninterrupted revival of the projects.

This is the main reason behind the state government seeking the financial backing of SPNB and financial institutions.

"We have to be careful when choosing the new developer to assure that the projects would be completed. It will be politically suicidal for a project to be abandoned again," he said.

Besides negotiating with financially strong companies, the state government has been holding constant discussions with house purchasers to inform them about current developments.

"We do not want the buyers to be in the dark and fear losing their money," said Syed Ameruddin.

Among the housing projects that will be revived through the state government's efforts are Taman Cemerlang (1,369 units), Taman Sri Semarak (1,316 units), Taman Terubong Indah (3,027 units), Fettes Villa (883 units) and Taman Hijau (2,225 units) in George Town; Taman Sri Bayu (630 units) in the Southwest district; Taman Penaga Jaya (1,021 units) and Taman Sejahtera (417 units) in Seberang Perai Utara; Taman Widuri (1,619 units), Taman Pekatra (1,260 units) and Taman Nuri (362 units) in Seberang Perai Selatan (1,619 units); and Taman Perwira (258 units) in Seberang Perai Tengah.

Cheap, urban houses

Syed Ameruddin expressed confidence that all 12 projects would be revived in the similar way two other projects - the 293-unit Taman Desa Widuri in Gertak Sanggul at Southwest district and 167-unit Taman Malwira in Mengkuang Titi at the Seberang Perai district, were completely revived in the last one year.

House buyers have already occupied the flats."We can revive these projects and provide homes for our people," he said.

The state government policy, he said, was to provide cheap houses for local residents, especially in urban areas.

In the past 10 years, nearly 100,000 low-cost flats, either for sale or rental, have been built in the state by both the public and private sectors.

When the private developers were badly hit by the financial crisis in recent years, the public sector played a pro-active role to complete these projects.

"This underlines the state government's determination to achieve its housing goals," Syed Ameruddin said.

ATHI VEERANGGAN is malaysiakini 's Penang-based stringer.