Kuala Lumpur Public Housing Projects

Despite the fact that all Public Housing Projects (PPR) in Kuala Lumpur have been completed, the city is nowhere near its Zero Squatter target.

“We have enough units to relocate all squatters in Kuala Lumpur, but they do not want to move, thinking that the PPRs are too far away,” City Hall deputy director-general Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said.

“The units are in good condition and they are offered at the cheapest rental rates in the world,” he added He did concede that Selangor might be faster than Kuala Lumpur in achieving Zero Squatter status, and that some squatters from Selangor had taken up PPR units in Kuala Lumpur. Barisan Nasional Information head for the Seputeh division Banie Chin said there was something wrong with the system used to relocate squatters.

According to Chin, most of the squatters are ready to move, but would prefer to move to a place nearer their current homes. “It’s only fair that they be given units close to their workplaces and to their children’s schools,” he said. Chin said it would be unfair to expect them to uproot their families from where they had been living for more than 50 years, "in most cases, PPR housing the squatters' are allocated to is out of the way and the neighbourhood would not even have proper public transport and government clinics... We are talking about the poor ,where the average household income is less then RM1,000."

Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai urged City Hall to hold back the eviction orders and to review the entire PPR system. “It is not fair to move the squatters to a brand new environment that affects their livelihoods,” he said, citing the 40-odd families at Kampung Sam Yoke, Jalan Jubilee, that have been allocated PPR Muhibbah in Puchong, while PPR Sri Alam is only a stone’s throw away.

“It was reported that as many as 1,000 Primary One students from Puchong could not get a place in schools last year and this figure will increase drastically if the squatters from Cheras are moved there."

All ready: The PPR Raya Permai in Sungei Besi is among the PPR that have been completed.

He said the situation would have been better if City Hall had built enough units of PPR near the original squatter sites. Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun pointed out that there was not even one PPR project in his constituency. “Land is not a problem. For example, there are 42.5ha of former government quarters at Jalan Imbi earmarked for recreational gardens. The government could set aside 8ha for PPR,” he said.

Chin agrees with Fong and suggested that DBKL consider using the empty land made vacant after the squatters have moved and build the PPR’s there. “That would be a win-win situation for all."

Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding urban areas form the most industrialised and economically the fastest growing region in Malaysia. Despite the relocation of federal government administration to Putrajaya, many of the government’s important machineries such as the Central Bank, Companies Commission of Malaysia and Securities Commission as well as embassies and diplomatic missions have remained in the city.

In short the city remains the economic and business centre of the country. In fact the city is a center for finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts in Malaysia. The infrastructure development in the surrounding areas such as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at Sepang, the creation of the Multimedia Super Corridor and the expansion of Port Klang further reinforce the economic significance of the city. Malaysia Exchange is based in the city and forms one of its core economic activities. As at end-June 2007, the market capitalisation stood at US$307 billion.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Kuala Lumpur is estimated at RM25,968 million in 2000 with an average annual growth rate of 4.2 percent. The per capita GDP for Kuala Lumpur is RM30,727, an average annual growth rate of 6.1 percent. The total employment in Kuala Lumpur is estimated at around 838,400. The service sector comprising finance, insurance, real estate, business services, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, transport, storage and communication, utilities, personal services and government services form the largest component of employment representing about 83.0 percent of the total. The remaining 17 percent comes from manufacturing and construction.

The large service sector is evident in the number of local and foreign banks and insurance companies operating in the city. Kuala Lumpur has in recent years become a premier international Islamic financial centre. The city has a large number of foreign corporations and is also host to many multi national companies’ regional offices or support centres, particularly for finance and accounting, and information technology functions. Most of the countries’ largest companies have their headquarters based here.

The tourism sector also plays an important part in the city’s economy, providing income, employment and expanding business opportunities. As an extension of this, many large worldwide hotel chains have presence in the city. Kuala Lumpur has also developed into an international shopping destination with a wide variety of shopping centres and mega malls which carry well known global and local brands. Conference tourism has also expanded in recent years and is becoming a very important component of the industry.

Other important economic activities in the city are education and health services. Kuala Lumpur also has advantages stemming from the high concentration of educational institutions located within its boundaries, providing a wide range of courses. Such public institutions include the University of Malaya, the University of Technology Malaysia, International Medical University and the Medical Faculty of the University Kebangsaan Malaysia. There are also a large number of private colleges, including the University Tun Abdul Razak and Tunku Abdul Rahman College, in and around Kuala Lumpur providing a wide range of courses which attract students from all over Malaysia as well as from other countries. There are numerous public and private medical specialist centres and hospitals in the city which offer general health services and a wide range of specialist surgery and treatment catering to locals and tourists. There has been growing emphasis to expand the economic scope of the city into other service activities such as research and development which supports the rest of the economy of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur has been home for years to important research centers such as the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia and the Institute of Medical Research and more research centers are expected to be established in the coming years.

The contrast between the Petronas Twin Towers and the squatter dwellings only serve to reinforce the irony of the current situation.