93 housing projects revived

13/05/2006 The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: New developers managed to salvage 93 out of 261 abandoned residential projects in 15 years, according to the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

The ministry’s director of monitoring and enforcement Dr G. Parameswaran said the 261 projects involved 88,000 housing units valued at more than RM8bil.

Of the remaining 168 abandoned projects, 149 were deemed possible to be revived, he added.

Among the reasons behind the abandonment, he said, were financial snags, poor marketing and sales strategies, squatter issues, developer crises and problems involving contractors and landowners.

To prevent future housing projects from being abandoned, he said, the ministry has tightened procedures for issuance of housing development licences.

The ministry has also stepped up monitoring of projects and is scrutinising developers' financial health, Parameswaran added.