KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 30): The Ministry of Local Government Development will establish a taskforce to tackle 381 “sick” private housing projects, it said in a statement on Friday (Dec 30).
A “sick” project is one that has been delayed by more than 30% compared to its scheduled progress, or one whose sales and purchase agreement (SPA) has lapsed, according to the National Housing Department.
According to data from the department, the 381 sick projects as at December 2022 comprised 69,179 housing units involving 28,530 buyers. This is down from 580 projects as at March 2022, its previous data showed.
The federal territories are the most affected with 12,097 units involving 5,081 buyers, followed by Selangor (11,678 units for 6,510 buyers) and Johor (11,207 units for 3,087 buyers).
To build over 83,000 houses by 2025
In the statement, the ministry also said it will build a total of 83,728 houses under the 12th Malaysia Plan, to support home ownership among Malaysians.
Of the total, 22,209 houses have been completed, 47,637 are under construction and the remaining 13,882 units will be completed by the end of 2025, according to the ministry’s statistics.
The ministry also said it will launch more high-quality affordable houses in 2023.
"Moving forward, especially in construction and urban planning, the ministry will focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) put forward by the United Nations," said Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming.
He said housing development is one of the important sectors in generating the national economy where almost 200 industries are involved.
In addition, Nga expressed hope that the private sector can actively cooperate with the government to build more green homes.