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?
