KUALA LUMPUR: The dispute over the proposed housing project at Taman Rimba Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail will be tabled at the Cabinet next month and a decision will be finalised, says Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad.
He said if the project was scrapped, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) would have to pay more than RM150mil in compensation to the developer.
“It is really expensive to pay the compensation ... but since the residents are still protesting, I will leave it to the Cabinet to decide.
“I have to prepare the paper and present it to the Cabinet and they will make a decision most probably some time in April,” he said after launching the “Perumahan Ku Bersih 2019” programme at the Beringin People’s Housing Project (PPR) here yesterday.There has been objection to the proposed project, which involves the construction of 350 units of affordable houses for Bukit Kiara longhouse residents and eight blocks of 50-storey high-end condominiums on a 4.8ha land, due to concerns for one of the last green lungs in the city.
Khalid said the project should proceed as the size of the land involved would be reduced to 3.2ha after taking into account the protest from the residents.
Yesterday, City Hall introduced the Rental Arrears Settlement Service Scheme to address the problem of rental arrears by tenants of its public housing (PA) and PPR units.Khalid said the City Hall would hire tenants who could not afford their rents as cleaners and their income would be used to settle current and outstanding rents.
“A total of 107 tenants have been identified to have rent arrears. So, if they really cannot afford to pay the rent, they can take up the job with an income of between RM800 and RM1,300 per month,” he said.
As of Jan 31, a total of 25,872 units of PA and PPR have rental arrears of RM25.76mil with rental rates ranging from RM95 to RM135 monthly. — Bernama
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