Demand means there are buyers
NST 01/06/2004

I REFER to the quote by Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association president Datuk Jeffrey Ng Tiong Lip: "The country needs between 100,000 and 150,000 new houses per annum. It is unrealistic to expect developers to build that many houses and face the risk of not having buyers. The concept could have implications" (NST, May 30).

What a masterpiece of a contradiction in terms! If the country needs that number of houses per annum, can Ng explain why there should be no takers? Is it because the avaricious developers have put the price beyond the reach of the ordinary man? Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi had the best interests of the rakyat at heart when he mulled over the concept of "build and sell'' in view of the pathetic plight of consumers in abandoned housing schemes.

Can Datuk Jeffrey Ng also explain why, under the present system of sell and build, the risk of loss should be transferred to thousands of house buyers rather than one negligent or wayward developer should he decide or be forced to abandon the housing project? Is that one man more important than the other thousands?

Dr A. SOORIAN
Seremban