SOME 90 low-cost units costing RM35,000 each will be built in Permatang Damar Laut in Batu Maung, Penang, this year.

Batu Maung assemblyman Abdul Malik Kassim, who is also a state exco member, said the units would have a built-up area of 700sq ft.

Without naming the developer, he said the project would kick off late this year and completed in two years.

He said this to reporters after the balloting for some 50 shortlisted candidates for a separate low-cost project, also in Batu Maung and comprising 88 units in a six-storey building, by Mah Sing Group Bhd.

Malik said so far some 400 units of low-cost properties had been handed over to buyers this year in Batu Maung.

?This include over 300 units handed over earlier this year and the 88 units by Mah Sing which are priced at RM35,000 each,? he added.

Of the 88 units, 73 were given as compensation to squatters in Batu Maung who were affected by Mah Sing?s Southbay Penang mixed-development project.

Seven names were picked from the balloting yesterday to purchase another seven units of the project.

The seven individuals were from a list of 50 eligible applicants for low-cost housing supplied by the State Housing Department to take part in the balloting.

The remaining eight of the 88 units were reserved for sale to those whose homes were affected by Mah Sing?s Residence@Southbay project.

SOURCE: The Star