BY PRIYA MENON

Noh (centre) officiating at the ‘Gotong Royong Merdeka Raya’ held at PPR Taman Putra Damai, Lembah Subang 1. — Photos: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

PEOPLE’s housing project (PPR) Taman Putra Damai, Lembah Subang 1 will get RM1mil from the Federal Government by the end of the year to upgrade its facilities.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar announced the allocation, among others, to improve the handrails and football field during a Gotong-Royong Merdeka Raya session held at the flats yesterday.

Paperwork to begin the short-term upgrading plans were under way and the Federal Government had also devised a long-term plan to improve other facilities including the lifts there.

“The RM1mil is to repair basic necessities here including the handrails. As for the lifts, we cannot resolve that yet as the state government has an agreement with the lift operators,” he added.

A sum of RM10mil has been allocated for future rectification works including repairs or replacements for all the 24 lifts in the flats.

At present, only eight lifts are in working condition while six are being repaired.

Noh hoped to provide a stretcher lift in each block to help transport the bodies of the deceased.

There are also plans to build a multi-storey carpark in the long run to help resolve parking woes in the PPR flats.

The upgrading works was part of the Government’s initiative called My Beautiful Neighbourhood where public housing schemes undergo a makeover complete with infrastructure.

As part of the first phase of the transformation, the Gotong Royong Merdeka Raya saw various government agencies coming together to clean up the PPR.

Among the agencies involved were SWCorp, Alam Flora and the Fire and Rescue Services Department.

Noh said they would introduce the same initiative at other PPR flats after the project in Lembah Subang is complete.