Kedah acts against public housing hire purchase defaulters

ALOR SETAR: The Kedah government proposes to arrange bank loans for public housing hire purchase defaulters who have run up arrears of RM27 million, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said on Feb 24.

"The bank will pay the state government and the house owners will repay the loans," he told reporters after chairing the weekly meeting of the state executive council, here.

Azizan said the state government had tried everything, including prosecuting the house owners, but could not collect the instalment payments.

He said it did not want to seize the houses because it did not want to be seen as heartless.

Azizan said if the defaulters did not agree to the bank loan arrangement, they would be asked to move out of the houses and the units would be given to others in need and who could make the instalment payments.

He said a check revealed that many of the occupants were not poor and had been staying in these houses for more than 30 years, owned cars and even had working children.

Azizan said the state government had to take the firm measure because the construction of the houses, among them in Mergong and Paya Nahu were financed by the federal government and the money had to be repaid. -- Bernama