PUTATAN: The request by residents of Tanjung Aru flats to relocate to the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) in Penampang and Tuaran is subject to the availability of units, says Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
He said he had informed the matter to the Chief Minister and the Local Government and Housing Ministry will look into it.
“Efforts are being made to assist the needy, including the elderly and disabled, to be relocated to PPR flats in Kibabaig and Tuaran, but it is challenging to move such a large number,” he said.
Some 300 families are residing in the Tanjung Aru low-cost flats and many have refused to move out or find alternative living arrangements.
Shahelmey said the flats were already unsafe and needed to be demolished, and the Government was concerned for the welfare of its residents.
Earlier this year, Sabah Housing and Urban Development Board Chairman Datuk Masiung Banah stressed that residents had to vacate the Tanjung Aru flats owing to structural issues.
He did not, however, indicate what had been planned for the site, which is on prime land close to the beach.
— Nora Ahmad