Salvage hope for Widuri project buyers

08/10/2001 The Star

Housebuyers of the stalled Pangsapuri Widuri project in Lorong Chempa may finally get to see their units completed if a proposal to salvage the project materialises.

Bagan Jermal assemblyman Datuk Dr Sak Cheng Lum said there was an option to get another developer to complete the project on a turnkey basis.

“I am hoping that with the help of the Housing and Local Government Ministry and state Housing Committee, we will be able to get the project’s original developer to agree to the proposal,’’ he said after attending a housebuyers’ meeting in Butterworth yesterday.

A total 970 housebuyers and 220 squatters are affected by the project’s delay. The project, comprising low-medium and low-cost units, was initially scheduled for completion last December but has been stalled for the past two years.

Dr Sak said the original developer had been given a month from the date of the last meeting with housebuyers on May 15 to come up with a solution, “but we have yet to hear from them.”

He noted that state Housing Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Rashid Abdullah had negotiated with the proposed new developer on ways to revive the project, adding that he hoped some agreement on the matter could be reached soon.

Pangsapuri Widuri Pro-tem Committee chairman Jasper Tan said some 400 housebuyers were planning to stage a peaceful gathering outside the State Assembly building on Oct 16.

“We do not want to cause any trouble but merely want the state government to expedite efforts in resolving our problem.

“We will also forward a memorandum on the matter to Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon at the premises on that day,’’ he said.

Tan also called on housebuyers who had not registered with the committee to do so at the Bagan MP Lim Hock Seng’s office in Jalan Raja Uda on Friday at 8.30pm.

For further information, call Tan at 012-4636003.