DBKL staff cutting a lock to open a PPR Raya Permai unit believed to be rented out to foreigners. Looking on (in yellow) is Muzammer. — filepic
THIS year, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) confiscated 328 out of 946 housing units found to have been misused between January and October.
The crackdown intensified in May when DBKL went on a blitz to make sure that only those truly in need and who qualified, continued to live in public housing units (PPA) and people’s housing scheme (PPR).
DBKL Housing Management and Community Development Department deputy director Mohd Muzammer Jamaluddin said most of the 946 tenants who received the tenancy withdrawal notice were found to have allowed unauthorised people to live in their units.
“We only managed to reclaim 35% of the units because many cases were still pending.
“We have a procedure to follow and it is not very easy because we are subjected to an audit.
“We found 504 units to have occupants who were not the actual tenants. Trailing this are unoccupied units with a total of 429 units, and the remaining 13 units were used by foreigners.
“From the total number, DBKL managed to confiscate 328 units, most of which were abandoned. Our breakdown of confiscated units shows that 254 units were unoccupied, 64 units housed unauthorised tenants and 10 housed foreigners.
“Many of the confiscated units are from the old PPA projects built some 30 years ago, whereby the original tenants and their families had grown bigger and moved out but continued to hold on to the units,” he said.
Muzammer said there were about 60,000 people on the waiting list for the housing units and as such, there was a dire need to filter out those who were no longer eligible, to make way for those truly deserving.
“The process is not easy, and we deal on a case-by-case basis. So we trained our staff in how to survey and enforce the law, and we started going on our rounds twice a week beginning May.
“The response and cooperation from the public has also been welcoming because everyone wants a harmonious place to live in.
“Having outsiders or unauthorised people in the community threatens the peace,” he said.
Muzammer said that during the same period, DBKL issued a total of 12,610 compound notices.
“A total of 12,484 compound notices were for vehicles parked in unsuitable places, followed by 123 issued for having pets, and another three for obstruction of pathways.
DBKL also conducted 20 joint operations with the police, Immigration Department and National Anti-Drug Agency every week between April and Oct 14.
There are in total 59,560 PPA and PPR units in 62 residential areas spread across 11 constituencies in Kuala Lumpur.
Muzammer said although tenants were encouraged to buy the units in a bid to increase the sense of ownership among them, 74%, or 44,097 units were still being rented.
“Only 15,553 units have been sold,” he said.
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