The Kebun Bunga constituency in Penang appears to be a target for “deranged arsonists, saboteurs and political rivals” with a plan to undermine the work of its assemblyman.

Cheah Kah Peng (PKR-Kebun Bunga) said he does not discount that such elements may be bent on undermining his work as an elected representative in the constituency since 2013.

He has several suspects in mind but prefers not to divulge their identities, only saying they are on his "watchlist".

The latest incident to plague his constituency were three faulty lifts damaged by fires at the Rifle Range Flats in Air Itam.

Kebun Bunga is under the Bukit Bendera parliamentary constituency held by DAP’s Zairil Khir Johari.

“Many of the residents are senior citizens, the handicapped and the marginalised,” said Cheah.

“They are forced to walk up a 16th floor flat; about 1,000 residents are affected by the damaged lifts,” Cheah told Malaysiakini when met at the state legislative assembly.

“The lifts are currently useless after they had been set on fire; we do not know who did it.

“If they want to sabotage me, come after me, don’t go against the innocent residents,” he said.

Culprits elusive

To catch the culprits, Cheah said the place have been installing CCTV and employing security personnel and police surveillance.

However, these measures have yet to bear fruit.

Cheah is no stranger to acts of vandalism bordering on arson or harassment at Rifle Range, locally known as Par Cheng Poh, an eight-hectare plot with one of the island's first low cost flats erected in 1969.

“We have encountered two incident where men with swinging axes had tried to destroy the lifts in the blocks.

"The damage amounted to about RM660,000; it can be quite terrifying for residents and their visitors”

The place is an eyesore as 15,000 residents cramp into 3,660 tiny units in nine dilapidated blocks, with several facing a large Chinese cemetery along Boundary Road and Jalan Padang Tembak.

In the past, the police and military used the space as a shooting range.

Rifle Range was one of the projects where the previous BN-led state government provided public housing that the residents could "rent-to-own" houses at low rental rates of between RM10 and RM100 a month over several decades.

Cheah said engineers estimated the lift repairs would cost around RM330,000.

“When they would be fixed depends on the availability of spare parts and funding.”

RM11.5m on maintenance

Cheah raised the issue of his constituency's problems at the state legislative assembly on Monday.

Last night, state housing committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the state government had spent RM11.5 million for maintenance work on the flats since 2010.

“I have instructed the relevant authorities to look into the matter urgently,” he said, while winding up his speech on Penang's Budget 2017.