PR1MA projects offering 3,000 units at two locations in Penang to be renamed too

Spot check: Jagdeep (with dark glasses) visiting Kampung Kastam together with (from left) Ideal Properties Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Datuk Goh Teng Whoo, executive chairman Tan Sri Alex Ooi, and MBPP planning director Zuraini Mat Rasit.

GEORGE TOWN: Two projects in the state where land has been set aside for 1Malaysia People’s Housing (PR1MA) but not built will be revived.

State Housing Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said records showed that three blocks were approved for development in Batu Ferringhi and Bukit Gelugor.

He said the state had proposed that the PR1MA projects be renamed ‘Perumahan Rakyat Harapan Malaysia’.

“There is one in Batu Ferringhi and another comprising two blocks in Kampung Kastam in Bukit Gelugor which were approved in 2016,” said Jagdeep during a spot check on Kampung Kastam’s affordable housing project here yesterday.

The Batu Ferringhi project will have 1,247 units while 1,823 units will be built in Kampung Kastam, bringing the total to 3,070 units.

Although approval was given two years ago, he said the progress had been going at a snail’s pace.

“However, with the change in Federal Government, all these projects will be continued under state supervision and fast-tracked,” said Jagdeep.

On the Kampung Kastam project, he said 905 units of affordable housing and 257 low medium-cost units would initially be built.

The project is set to begin this year-end, targeted for completion in 2021.

He said this was because the existing surrounding roads would be expanded and linked to the 5.7km paired road from Ayer Itam to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass.

“The spot checks on all these housing projects will continue as I want them to be completed on time without any delay,” he added.