Learn from our neighbour

LET’S call a spade a spade. Our record of building affordable homes is pathetic, if not a disgrace.

The 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme, which was launched in 2011 with much fanfare and promises, has turned into an expensive fiasco.

It was set up with a purported mission to plan, develop and provide affordable housing and even a pledge to provide high-quality homes.

In the end, PR1MA produced none of the above. Its failures included poor selection of land, projects which were not market-driven, unaffordable house prices, bad quality homes and the technology used was inefficient.

Over RM8bil was pumped into this state-owned housing scheme which turned out to be a flop.

It has been reported that a total of 1.42 million people had registered for the PR1MA programme, with a promise of a million homes by 2020, but only 16,682 units or 1.6% of the target were achieved between 2013 and 2018.

In 2020, it had to fork out up to RM200mil to compensate contractors who were involved in PR1MA “sick projects” that were cancelled in reportedly over 30 sites.

So, there should really be no reason for the outcry when Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming suggested that we should perhaps seek help from Singapore.

No one in his right mind would refuse to accept the fact that Singapore has an impressive record for providing affordable homes to its people despite the scarcity of land.

The island republic’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) deserves to be recognised as one of the best in the world.

In the end, it’s the results that matter.

We don’t need lofty mission statements on websites with fantasies of delivering world-class homes when there is nothing to offer in the end.

Let’s not even get started on the bragging of world-class facilities by our leaders which are crumbling because of our pathetic maintenance culture, or rather the lack of it.

The problem with PR1MA is that it started off as a politically driven plan. Not the entire fault of the people running the programme but the politicians. It was not market driven, just ask the developers.

But in Malaysia, no one takes responsibility. The reality is PR1MA has been badly managed.

Why would any Malaysian citizen pay for a home at between RM200,000 and RM400,000 in a location with no public transport accessibility, as an example, and it includes areas like Kuala Muda and Baling in Kedah.

Perhaps, Kedah Mentri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor should visit these sites and listen to the many PR1MA applicants who are still waiting for their homes instead of shooting-off ill-thought-out statements.

Sanusi had reportedly accused Nga of having a hidden agenda by emulating HDB’s housing plans and purportedly trying to subjugate the Malays by bringing back local elections.

The reality is that nearly 80% of Singaporeans are living in flats administered by HDB.

It is one of the few countries in the world with almost 100% home ownership.

Developed countries like the United States, United Kingdom and nearer to home, even Hong Kong, are still grappling with low-cost homes for its people as high rentals eat up the budget of the city dwellers.

But tiny Singapore has been able to resolve the problem and yet we have politicians and, perhaps officials, who are too proud to want to learn from our neighbour.

Worse, we have someone like Sanusi who churns out outrageous remarks with racist overtones. That’s what happens when politics takes precedence over everything.