GEORGE TOWN: The presence of luxury vehicles believed to belong to some occupants of public housing scheme units in the state have raised eyebrows over their eligibility to continue occupying units meant for the lower-income group.
Penang housing committee chairman Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo (pic) said during site visits to public housing schemes, members of the state Housing Board encountered many cars, including luxury vehicles.
The visits were part of the tenant regularisation exercise, held following rental arrears under the state’s public housing schemes that surpassed RM2mil, involving over 1,100 occupied units.
Sundarajoo said some tenants had also claimed that they were still earning below RM1,500 a month, but checks at the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) showed otherwise.
“It is hard to believe that after years of enjoying low rental rates and seeing their families grow into generations, they are still occupying units meant for the low-income group.
“We have over 1,000 people on the waiting list, some who have waited for years,” he said at a press conference in Komtar yesterday.
He pointed out that the fixed RM124 monthly rental includes maintenance charges for a three-year tenancy period, with any extension subject to the tenant’s eligibility and actual need.
He said inspections would next be carried out on tenants who had stayed in the units for more than three years as part of the regularisation exercise.
He said ineligible occupants will be required to vacate the PPR units when the state begins a compliance review process to ensure the housing benefits only those who qualify.
He noted that about 30% of existing occupants in Penang’s PPR and State Rental Housing (RSKN) units are no longer eligible to continue living there.
“We have issued 18 notices to those who have stayed for a long time and those who have lost eligibility due to increased household income in our pilot project in Taman Manggis,” he said.
Sundarajoo said the state was prepared to consider appeals from tenants who are genuinely facing hardships.
“Monthly extensions can be granted for three months, and up to six months in total, but the scheme was never intended as a long-term arrangement.
“We urge them to make way for others who are in need,” he said.
Penang has four PPR schemes – Taman Manggis, Taman Bagan Jaya, Mak Mandin and Permatang Tok Suboh – comprising 999 units, of which 934 are occupied.
“Of the occupied units, 268 have rental arrears amounting to RM254,633.
Under the RSKN, which has 1,931 units, 1,591 of which are occupied, 907 units are in arrears, totalling RM1,770,833.
In March 2019, several Taman Manggis PPR residents had staged a sit-in at Komtar after receiving eviction notices.
The state defended the evictions, stating that some tenants were no longer eligible, including those who had bought homes of their own or were allegedly subletting the low-rent units for profit rather than being genuinely needy.
