Najib’s 9999 new homes in Air Itam: Guan Eng responds

Guan Eng responds to Najib’s pledge to build 9999 low-medium cost and affordable homes in the Air Itam area.

Yes, traffic congestion is a serious issue that should be taken into consideration in all new and existing housing schemes. And wherever possible, public transport should be promoted.

Guan Eng’s statement:

Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is Disrespectful to existing 4,000 families, Desperate in making new empty election promises and Dishonest in repeating unfulfilled recycled promises that the federal government will build 9,999 units of low and medium-cost apartments in the 3 state constituencies of Air Putih, Air Itam and Paya Terubong.

The Penang state government is shocked at Najib’s announcement that through the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, he had signed land purchase agreements for Air Putih, Ayer Itam and Paya Terubong to each get 2,222 low-medium cost homes and 1,111 affordable homes. By not informing first the 4,000 families in the affected areas who have to be evicted, Najib is being disrespectful to them and is willing to sacrifice the homes shared by 4,000 families just to gain political mileage. Why is BN and Najib behaving in such a harsh manner by not consulting with the 4,000 families but just want to bulldoze their homes with an announcement made without their knowledge?

Clearly Najib is desperate to make new empty promises of 9,999 affordable homes, a promise without value as they are made just before the general elections. Indeed Najib’s promise of 9,999 affordable housing in Air Putih, Air Itam and Paya Terubong is not even included in the BN National Manifesto launched by Najib. This new promise has been exposed as a lie because if this is to be built by the BN Federal government, then why is this promise not included in the BN National Manifesto?

Najib is also dishonest when he promised that those those living in the 962 one-bedroom houses in Kampung Melayu will be given three-bedroom homes in the Air Itam affordable homes scheme. This is
another unfulfilled promise by BN that has been recycled at every general election, the last occasion done by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop in 2008, that has
never been delivered.

As for the Padang Tembak flats, Najib’s promise of using the existing FRU land joined with the current flats to jointly deliver 4,800 new low and medium cost homes raises issues whether existing residents will be chased out, especially tenants. Further the issue of traffic congestion has not been dealt with. In an already heavily congested area with high density how is the Federal government going to build new highways to overcome traffic jams with the increased density from nearly 15,000 new homes.

BN has always criticized the state government for ignoring traffic congestion from housing projects, including the 22,172 units of affordable housing proposed by the PR state government. However BN has chosen to remain silent without stating what are the highways they propose to build when there is going to be a massive traffic jam of gargantuan proportions in the Air Putih, Paya Terubong and Air Itam from these new 15,000 houses.

PR challenges Najib to deliver on BN’s promises especially the monorail project promised in 2006. Despite the failure of BN to fulfill the promise made in 2006,Najib has the cheek yesterday to repeat or recycle this unfulfilled promise of building the monorail again. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi failed to deliver the promise when he was Prime Minister and Datuk Seri Najib failed again to deliver after he took over from Pak Lah. Clearly the monorail or tram will only be built in Penang when Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim becomes the new Prime Minister for Malaysia on 5 May 2013.