Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said there was a pressing need to build more affordable homes, which was why the Menara DBKL 2 project was scrapped.

“After reviewing everything, the Government decided that we should focus on more affordable housing projects,” he said.

He added that the Government had identified a plot of land in Segambut to build homes catering to middle-income earners.

“These units would be like the ones in People’s Housing Schemes, and instead of RM124 a month in rental, we will charge them RM500,” he said.

Titiwangsa MP Datuk Johari Ghani, who is also Deputy Finance Minister, said: “Times are hard and people are suffering; they need affordable units, not units that cost RM300,000 and above.

“They need units that can be rented out at RM500 a month, which is a more realistic sum,” he said.

Amin Nordin also said that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) was re-examining the luxury condominium project in Datuk Keramat and was considering to convert it solely for affordable housing.

The development, which was supposed to be built on a green lung, had raised the ire of the public.

Datuk Keramat residents took to the streets last week to protest the sale of the green lung to a private developer who planned to build luxury condominiums there.