Tenants to resume paying rent

JOHOR BARU: After two years of staying rent-free due to the Covid-19 pandemic, tenants from 20 government housing schemes in Johor will have to resume paying their monthly rentals beginning this month.State housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said the government is expected to collect more than RM24.9mil in rental payments from tenants living in the People’s Housing Programme (Program Perumahan Rakyat, or PPR) and Rumah Sewa Kerajaan (RSK) housing units in 2023.

“We did not collect rent throughout 2021 and 2022 as part of the state government’s effort to help the lower-income group during the pandemic.

During those two years, the government allocated RM52mil to maintain and carry out repairs on the PPR and RSK.

“We are hoping that the tenants will start paying their monthly rental again in January, which is around RM124 to RM250,” he said when met after officiating the “Jom Turun PPR Sri Stulang and PPR Sri Iskandar” here yesterday.

He also said that to make it easier to pay the monthly rentals, tenants are urged to make payments online via Johor Pay at https://johorpay.johor.gov.my/.

Mohd Jafni added that it costs around RM26mil a year for repairs and maintenance work involving the 20 PPR and RSK schemes.

“There are 14,000 housing units within the PPR and RSK buildings, and it costs a huge amount of money to repair any damage to drainage and amenities and maintain the sewage treatment plants,” he said.

The state government, Mohd Jafni added, will not order tenants who have been renting the PPR and RSK units for more than five years to move out but will take action if they breach the leasing contract.

“We are taking the humane approach by allowing them to stay longer than the five years allowed, as most of them are poor. But if they sublet their units to a third party, then we will terminate their contract and ask them to move out,” he said.

On another matter, Mohd Jafni said the state government has sent a proposal on building a new PPR in Larkin here to the Local Government Development Ministry for it to be included in the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK12).

“We are hoping that the minister Nga Kor Ming will help the state government in getting the project included in RMK12.

“All of the technical and land issues and related documentation have been sorted out and completed,” he said, adding that the state government has proposed two designs to the ministry, worth RM150mil and RM86mil, for their consideration.

Larkin was chosen because it has a high population density and there are not many PPR projects there, he added.

Mohd Jafni said there are six PPR projects currently being built in the state, namely PPR Pengerang Kecil and PPR Bandar Tenggara in Kota Tinggi; PPR Ulu Tiram; PPR Permas Jaya and PPR Masai here; and PPR Sembrong in Kluang.

“These projects are between 60% and 90% complete,” he said.