Price of new low-cost homes too steep for tsunami victims

PENANG, MALAYSIA : The tsunami victims in Penang are unable to move into their new homes because the price is not right, said MP Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye. The state government had set a ceiling price of RM42,000 per unit of low-cost home but the company engaged by the Federal Government to build the houses for tsunami victims was quoting RM52,000 per unit.

Chia said the state government was not agreeable to the price quoted by the company. �The state has appealed to the Federal Government to look into the matter urgently as the tsunami victims need to move into permanent homes,� Chia said.

The tsunami victims who lost their homes in Dec 2004 have been living in transit longhouses since more than two years ago. The victims have been complaining that the transit homes have started falling apart with cracks and leakages. Chia said the housing problems must be settled soon as the new homes would also fall apart if left unattended for a long time.

Source : The Star