A mind-boggling Penang PH government and the 20-year abandoned Majestic Heights housing project

TIMH chairman Eric Ciah and treasurer Irene Lim posing a picture at The Stone construction site for No News Is Bad News.

A mind-boggling Penang PH government and the 20-year abandoned Majestic Heights housing project

https://youtu.be/jvPy8cJfcJk (TIMH officials monitoring the construction work in progress at The Stone site (abandoned by Majestic Heights) in Paya Terubong, Penang.)

Just what is the Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) government up to, frustrating some 1,283 Majestic Heights (MH) buyers who have been waiting for their dream apartment homes for more than 20 years.

Many of the Phase 3 buyers have waited so long that they are now retired and are unable to secure loans if they take up the units offered in the revived project.

The project stakeholders, liquidators, PLB Land Sdn Bhd (MH White Knight) and the Penang government have cleared almost all encumbrances and, thus, construction of the revived project is now in progress since last year.

However, the woes continue to plague the MH abandoned house buyers due to an unresponsive and uncaring state government whose executive councillor in charge of housing (Jagdeep Singh Deo) cannot keep his word.

It is simply unbelievable why Jagdeep is behaving as such after telling the buyers in a meeting that: “That is not a problem!”

The buyers, represented by the Persatuan Penduduk Taman Terubong Indah (TIMH) PPM-029-07-28012016, had only two meetings with Jagdeep on Jan 12, 2016 and March 11, 2016.

In the January meeting, Jagdeep had assured the association that waiving the state’s affordable housing conditions for MH victims is not a problem.

However, today there are many unresolved problems with new woes cropping up to frustrate the MH victims - no thanks to the Penang government.

What is perplexing to the victims is that waiving the affordable housing conditions will not cost the state government a single sen! 

So, why is Jagdeep and the Penang government continuing to frustrate and prolong their misery?

MH was launched in 1996 as the state’s largest mixed township project on the island. MH comprises several phases with Phase 1 affordable housing units scheduled to be delivered in 1999.

However, the project was abandoned in 2001 with Majestic Heights Sdn Bhd declared bankrupt in court after the buyers sued the developer.

The buyers then sought the help of the then Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon who failed to revive the project until he and his Barisan Nasional (BN) government were given the boot by Penangites in 2008.

So, MH is today the state’s largest mixed township project on the island and the longest abandoned housing project in history.

Phase 3 of MH is now under construction by PLB under a new product name - The Stone, featuring 1,000 sq ft apartments equipped with full condominium facilities.

Upon full completion of MH Paya Terubong, it will have no fewer than 7,000 residents. (View this earlier report for context: https://victorlim2016.blogspot.com/2018/10/this-is-how-shitty-penang-state.html - This is how shitty the Penang state government has become!)

PLB’s sales pitch for The Stone (previously Majestic Heights):




The abandoned MH sales pitch: