New Straits Times Reports

For those who can't view the above picture, the text below is what the news report says:

Source: nstonline

"New hope for stalled housing projects

By Suganthi Suparmaniam

2009/01/12
KUALA LUMPUR: A “special purpose vehicle” will be set up to deal with abandoned housing projects. Despite the global economic slowdown, the Housing and Local Government Ministry hopes to build at least 80,000 new houses this year.

“Some 140 types of businesses like manufacturing, building materials, architects and financial institutions rely heavily on the housing industry.

“It is up to the ministry to ensure the industry stays vibrant throughout the year,” Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said after handing over keys to housebuyers of a revived housing project in Bukit Jalil.

“The special purpose organisation will have legal expertise, as well as expertise in technical issues, land management and other aspects of reviving abandoned projects,” Ong added.

It will also have financial facilities, like being able to provide soft loans, when developers run into trouble, he said.

The housebuyers of the Jalil Sutera project, who received their keys yesterday, had worked with the developer for three years to get it completed.

Insurance agent Goh Eng Choo said when she found out that the project had been abandoned in 2005, she and other buyers set up a committee to protect their purchases.

“I’m happy our team’s hard work has paid off,” she said.

There are 193 houses in the project, and the remaining 62 housebuyers have been promised their homes by August.

Ong said out of 270 abandoned projects, 126 have been revived by the original or other developers, and 115 have the potential to be revived.

© Copyright 2009 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.”

The Star Reports

For those who can't view the above pictures, the text below is what the news report says:

Source: The Star Online

"Monday January 12, 2009

Ministry hopes for 80,000 homes in 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: The Housing and Local Government Ministry hopes developers will be able to deliver at least 80,000 units of residential homes this year.

Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said since the 1990s, developers had been building an average of 100,000 homes a year.

(Caption for the enclosed photo)

New homeowner: Ong (second from left) handing over the house keys to Taman Sutera Jalil houseowner Goh Eng Choo (centre) on Sunday. With him are (from left) Ho Hup Construction Company Bhd COO Woo Thin Choy, chairman Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir and Ho Hup director Datuk Vincent Lye.

“However, since there might be an economic slowdown this year, I hope they can achieve at least 80% of their annual average,” he told reporters yesterday after a handing over ceremony of house keys at Taman Jalil Sutera yesterday.

Ong handed keys to some 31 house owners of Phase Four of the residential project.

The entire housing project comprising of 193 units was to have been completed in 2005, but the completion for 93 units was delayed.

The remaining 62 units will be delivered by August.

Ong said since the 1990s, about 2.78 million houses had been built throughout the country where about 87,725 units were later abandoned.

“But about 35,262 units managed to be revived and delivered,” he said.

Another 15,155 units were in the process of being redeveloped, while the remaining 37,308 units were still listed under abandoned housing projects.

“But these 37,000 odd units are the old units before the Housing Development Act was amended recently, and there is a lot of legal complications surrounding them,” he said.

“Developers are now held much more accountable than before.”

He added the Ministry was looking at setting up a special purpose vehicle to be put in place to look into reviving all abandoned housing projects."

Invitation by BJD

Buyers of Jalil Sutera were invited to a "Majlis Jamuan Projek Jalil Sutera" on January 11, 2009 by Bukit Jalil Development Sdn. Bhd. (BJD).