Mohd Jafni (left) looking at vegetables grown at the RSK Taman Cendana Community Farm during his visit.
MORE than 2,000 units of Rumah Sewa Kerajaan (RSK) and people’s housing projects (PPR) have been reclaimed by the Johor government for issues concerning subletting.
State housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said this was based on the legalisation and profiling processes that the government initiated back in 2022.
“We have a total of 14,500 housing units belonging to 13 PPR and seven RKS in the state.
“The tenants of around 2,000 units were caught subletting to other people, for two to three times of the average monthly rental.
“So we have revoked the original tenants’ rights and offered new lease contracts to the families that were renting the flats from those tenants.
“This is provided they meet the requirements such as having a monthly income of below RM3,000.”
Mohd Jafni said this after launching the Community Empowerment Programme and Community Farm Project at RSK Taman Cendana, Pasir Gudang.
He added that the government would not compromise on subletting issues, as the housing projects were aimed at giving poor families a place to stay.
“One of the main reasons why the previous tenants chose to rent out their units was because they became financially stable over the years and could afford to buy their own houses.
“That is why the state government has introduced a new lease form for all the new PPR and RSK projects in the state, which allows the tenants to stay for five years only.
“After that, we will offer them the opportunity to buy houses under the Johor Affordable Homes initiative,” said Mohd Jafni.
Meanwhile, he said that more than RM63mil had been allocated by the Johor government to upgrade seven RSK and 13 PPR projects this year.
“During last year’s budget announcement, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said RM63mil would be allocated for those upgrades.
“Some of these housing projects are old buildings, which is why the Johor government has come in to provide aid in terms of repair work,” he said.
Mohd Jafni added that RSK Taman Cendana alone required RM9.9mil from the allocation to cover the cost of repainting the building as well as roof and sewerage treatment plant maintenance.
“This housing project was introduced back in 1988, which means that this building has been here for 36 years.
“There are more than 1,500 units across 20 blocks, and this is one of the RSK projects that offers an affordable monthly rental fee of between RM200 and RM300,” he said.
