UPLANDS Resort Sdn Bhd plans to build 189 units of medium-range condominiums in Batu Ferringhi to address the need for affordable housing in Penang.

Its director Albert Chuan said they were targeting households with a combined monthly income of RM5,000 and below.

He said plans for the project, located on a 0.9 ha site on Jalan Sungai 1, had been submitted to the local authorities.

?We hope to get the green light soon and start construction work in the first quarter of 2012,? he said, adding the RM34.7mil project should be completed in 30 months.

Chuan added the project was in line with the spirit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak?s 1Malaysia People?s Housing Programme (PRIMA) to promote affordable housing in the country.

PRIMA, a corporation set up under the Prime Minister?s Department, was launched in the recent Budget 2012 announcement to distribute affordable houses to eligible first time house buyers, whose monthly income is not more than RM6,000.

The 15-storey project, which has 21 units per floor, is serviced by three lifts. Among its facilities are a swimming pool, gymnasium, community hall, and a roof-top landscaped garden.

Chuan said the company was also ?donating? a RM3.5mil wet market equipped with a car park and multi-purpose hall food court to the Penang Municipal Council.

?This is to fulfil our obligation to provide social amenities to the community in Batu Ferringhi,? he added.

Since 1993, Uplands Resort had completed over 1,000 units of residential landed and high-rise properties in Batu Ferringhi.

SOURCE: The Star