Federal Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan today blasted Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for relying on the federal government's PR1MA housing project in defining the price of affordable homes in his state and then blaming Putrajaya over the high ceiling price of RM400,000.

Abdul Rahman said the Penang government was not obligated to follow PR1MA's pricing and could set any price for the affordable homes it commissioned.

"If he indeed wants to help the rakyat, don't be busybody in wanting to use the federal government's project as standard.

"And then when questioned, accuses and blames the federal government without basis," he said in a statement tonight.

The Urban Well-being, Housing, and Local Government Minister's statement is a continuation of his tit-for-tat with Lim since Wednesday.

Abdul Rahman had initially accused Lim of lying when the chief minister blamed the federal government for setting some of the state’s affordable homes at RM400,000.

Lim later shot back, pointing out that the federal government’s PR1MA affordable home project had set the price at between RM220,000 to RM400,000.

Abdul Rahman, while acknowledging that that was PR1MA's price range, said the Penang government was never required to follow it, and then blame Putrajaya when faced with criticism.

"The question now is, who claimed that the price of affordable homes (by state governments) are determined by the federal government? Lim Guan Eng.

"Who decided to use PR1MA as the benchmark price? Lim Guan Eng too," he said.

Abdul Rahman added that no other state had used PR1MA as benchmark, as they priced affordable homes according to the needs of respective states.

"And if true (Penang's) price is based on PR1MA, why does he not conform with other criteria under PR1MA, such as size, concept, and plot ratio," he said.