Penang will be undergoing urban regeneration in the near future to address land scarcity, especially on the island.

State Housing, Town, Country Planning and Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said that to ensure that there is enough housing for the future population of Penang, safety measures must be taken.

“Land reclamation is a norm for all island states to get sufficient land,” Jagdeep said at a press conference outside Taman Free School food court in Datuk Keramat on Saturday.

He added that the mega Penang South Reclamation Scheme would cover 1,821 hectares to be reclaimed over the next 10 to 20 years.

“Meanwhile, to solve the problem of land scarcity, regeneration of existing housing schemes is one of the solutions.

“Taman Free School flats in Datuk Keramat, Mahsuri flats in Bayan Lepas and Rifle Range flats are more than 40 to 50 years old.

“When the flats reach a certain age, they become economically not viable to maintain.

“Maintaining old flats is more expensive than redeveloping new schemes from scratch,” Jagdeep explained.

He said that in Singapore, when every housing scheme reaches 30 to 40 years of age, an assessment report on the condition of the building must be produced.

“Many schemes there have been entirely redeveloped as in demolished and rebuilt.”

He added that several areas on Penang island and the mainland have been identified to be redeveloped and regenerated.

“This is for the benefit of the people because the size of the Taman Free School units is between 300 and 500sq ft.

“Residents will be offered larger units with a free car parking lot, better security and other amenities and the state will be able to provide more public housing for Penangites,” he added.

Meanwhile, a check with the residents of the Mahsuri flats in Bayan Lepas showed that a majority of them agreed with the idea of regeneration.

Jagdeep said that the project would start soon.

“The only issue is that in Malaysia, we do not have a clear law on how to deal with the minority of residents who do not want certain projects to be carried out,” he said.

He added that he had brought forward the matter to Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.

“The ministry has to study the possibility of amending the law to address this issue,” he said.

Jagdeep added that he would be representing the state government at the National Council for Local Government meeting on Friday to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The Mahsuri flats will be the first regeneration project.

An engagement project with the residents of Taman Free School flats three years ago highlighted several issues such as an increase in density and maintenance fees.

Jagdeep also said that he had received several proposals from developers to work on the regeneration project.

“We are hoping for a win-win situation,” he said, adding that the residents could counter propose their ideas.

Jadgeep and Jelutong MP R.S.N. Rayer later distributed Mandarin oranges to traders at the Taman Free School wet market to mark Chinese New Year.

Source: TheStar.com.my