Sec-gen on how to solve property overhang

18/04/2001The Star 

The prevailing property market overhang reflects a major weakness in town and country planning, Housing and Local Government Ministry secretary-general Datuk Khalid Husin said.

Developments were being permitted without taking into due consideration actual demand, he said, adding that the overhang was also mainly the result of speculation.

"The power to give approval lies with the local authorities.

"It seems that, in the past, many of the decisions made by local authorities were not in sync with federal policies,'' Khalid said in his paper, Towards Successful Housing Development in Malaysia, presented at the National Property Development

Conference seminar in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

"There have also been instances when some of those (local authorities) who already have their own local (development) plan, chose not to comply with the plan when dealing with certain planning proposals,'' he added.

Current laws and regulations also provided little room for intervention by the federal government, Khalid said.

He said the government realised that most local authorities, given their limitations in terms of size and expertise as well as access to data, did not have the capacity to deal effectively with development plans.

Even if the local authorities fully complied with local plans, their considerations were always based on their own area, he said.

"What is needed is an overall plan which provides a total picture of the housing requirements and distribution of the different types of housing in the country,'' he added.

Khalid said the government had decided to review the Town and Country Planning Act to balance the power of the federal and state governments.

This would see new provisions being recommended to enhance the role of the federal government in town and country planning.

He said since there was no specific plan to dictate the physical development of the country, the government planned to formulate a national spatial plan to guide Malaysia's future property development pattern.

Last year, the ministry received 1,823 complaints, of which 66.54% or 1,213 had been settled.

Khalid said the government had identified 46 projects with potential to be revived. These involved 13,855 houses ( of which 35% were low -cost units ) and 9,331 buyers. The estimated cost of reviving these projects is RM 1.3bil.