Facility maintenance in ‘Program Perumahan Rakyat’ low-cost housing scheme in Malaysia: issues and challenges
Effective facility maintenance of high-rise properties has become alarming issues for decades. Even though most high-rise residences in Malaysia fall under the purview of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 and the Strata Management Act 2013, the 'Program Perumahan Rakyat...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
LexisNexis Malaysia Sdn Bad
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/64512/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/64512/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/64512/1/64512_FACILITY%20MAINTENANCE%20IN%20%E2%80%98PROGRAM.PDF |
| Summary: | Effective facility maintenance of high-rise properties has become alarming issues for decades. Even though
most high-rise residences in Malaysia fall under the purview of the Housing Development (Control and
Licensing) Act 1966 and the Strata Management Act 2013, the 'Program Perumahan Rakyat' ('PPR')
Low-Cost Housing Scheme is a peculiar exception. Firstly introduced by the federal government to curb
squatting issues in urban areas, the PPR Housing Scheme was not subjected to any legislations nor written
agreements between residents and government. This had triggered the issue on ineffective facility
management after project completion. Due to the absence of appropriate legislations or guidelines, the big
question was:who should maintain the PPR? -- or rather, from whose pocket should the funding come from?
With low rental collection and limited financial resources, facilities were left unmaintained and badly
damaged prior to a residents' occupation. PPR residents risk their lives living in an inhabitable environment
due to poor facility maintenance. Secondly, there exists jurisdictional conflicts between federal and state
governments on the issue of federal level involvement to legislate on behalf of the state as allowed by art 76
of the Federal Constitution. Federal government involvement may occur to ensure uniformity between federal
and state laws. PPR Housing Scheme is one example of such, where the scheme was created by the federal
government and assigned to the state for management. This however, was made in the absence of clear
legislations or guidelines, leaving the state clueless on how to implement federal legislations at their level. This article suggests that federal and state governments
must collaborate and allocate adequate resources for effective facility maintenance of PPR Homes. Further,
appropriate PPR mechanisms should be in place to ensure adequate and regular maintenance without affecting PPR residents' quality of life. This guarantees every citizen of Malaysia can afford to own homes without compromising their quality of life. |
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