Press Statement By Chong Chieng Jen:
Is the Mayor of MBKS planning to demolish the KMC flats and to have private developer developing the land on which the KMC flats are sitting into expensive commercial and residential units for profits?
As I visited the residents in the KMC flats last few days, it has come to my notice that many units were vacant. For some units, the resident of the nearby units told us that certain units have no residents.
There are 2 units at the Betong block of the KMC flats where almost all the window panes were removed and the condition within clearly showed that these units had not been inhabited for a long time.
The KMC flats are legacy of the colonial government, built to help the urban poor. It provides cheap and affordable accommodation for the poor working in the city area. Due to its strategic location, there are many people, especially the poor and hardcore poor who are working in the city, applying to MBKS to be the tenants for certain units of the flats.
Many of these applicants were told that there was no vacancy.
Yet, before my eyes, there were at least 2 units left empty with all the window panes removed.
This begs the questions:
- Why is MBKS not renting out these vacant units to the poor and instead letting these units uninhabited?
- Is the MBKS mayor having plan to demolish these KMC flats and thus by reducing the number of the inhabitants, it will in future be easier for him to carry out the demolition of the KMC flats?
KMC flats are affordable accommodation for the poor. It is a welfare provided for the poor.
By leaving the units vacant and not renting them out for the poor, it is a dereliction of the Mayor’s duties.
Therefore, it is no wonder that when my campaign team erected the billboards highlighting and questioning the Mayor on this issue, instead of giving a straight answer, the Mayor’s election campaign team tried to pull down the billboards, in an attempt to coverup the issue.
Whether it is election time or otherwise, as this matter affects thousand of tenants and their families, the Mayor of MBKS is dutybound to provide an answer. Therefore, Datuk Wee Hong Seng, as MBKS Mayor, should not run away from the issue and act dumb on it.
14.12.2021
Chong Chieng Jen
