Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan looking at the illustration of the common space of the urban housing.
TWO blocks of urban housing along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (TAR), Kuala Lumpur have been unveiled in a pilot housing project aimed at helping the lower income B40 group, says Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan.
Called In-kubator Kul, the project hopes to ease the financial burden faced by the B40 group working in the city who have trouble looking for a place to live in.
According to the mayor, if the project proved successful, it would be implemented in other areas in Kuala Lumpur.
“We will implement it in 'population-centric' areas that offer lot of job opportunities, such as Jalan Tiong Nam and Jalan Putra, as we want to develop and make these places vibrant.
“It will be rented out to those working within 25km radius of these urban housing (blocks).
“We're aiming to reduce traffic congestion in the city by encouraging tenants to stay near the place they work or to take public transport to their workplace,” Nor Hisham said during the unveiling ceremony at the basement of Lot 54 and 56 along Jalan TAR on Tuesday (April 16).
The seven-storey two block housing project, when completed, will operate like a hostel, separating male and female tenants.
The project is divided into two phases with a total of 323 rentable space.
The first phase has 188 units and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, while phase two, comprising 135 units, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020.
“This is part of Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) effort to give back to the community.
“Once tenants are capable of looking for a room elsewhere, the space will be rented to other tenants who need it.
“Application will be opened before the end of the year as we are still finalising the do’s and don’ts,” Nor Hisham said, adding total cost would be about RM7mil for the whole project.
Tenants have to be single Malaysians aged 18 to 28, whose monthly income is less than RM2,000 to be eligible to rent at RM100 a month, inclusive of electricity and water supply.
The space is equipped with a single bed, cabinet and wardrobe, but tenants can add in other small furniture such as tables, chairs and rack as long as it is within the property guidelines.
Using the “shared space” concept, three to six beds will be put into each room, and each floor will have four to five rooms.
Communal bathrooms and toilets are placed on each floor, while parking bays for motorcycle and bicycles would be made available at the lower ground floor.
The rental period is between a year and 18 months, and any application to extend rental period must be made six months before the ending date.
“Most importantly, the units are opened to all Malaysians regardless of race.
“We hope this will foster unity among the people and help focus on the quality of life,” he said.
Also present during the unveiling ceremony were DBKL executive director (Planning) Datuk Mahadi Che Ngah, executive directors (project management) Datuk Mohd Najib Mohd and executive director (socio-economic department) Datuk Ibrahim Yusoff.
For details, visit eperumahan.dbkl.gov.my/erumah/.
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