18 September 2012 | last updated at 12:04AM
BN: Rifle Range needs renewal
By MELISSA DARLYNE CHOW | [email protected]
COMPENSATION: People’s approval sought to redevelop and rejuvenate flats
Faulty utility services, vandalism and illegal hawkers are among the problems faced by the residents of Rifle Range flats in George Town.
GEORGE TOWN: PENANG Barisan Nasional has proposed a rejuvenation of the Rifle Range flats.
Addressing more than 700 people at a Malaysia Day dinner on Sunday night, state BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow said Rifle Range needed a renewal. "We cannot leave Rifle Range in its present state when other places are nicely done up. "We need a new way. I have a suggestion. I hope you will give us the mandate so that we can do this," he said at the dinner held at SK Padang Tembak.
Speaking to reporters later, Teng said the proposal had been mooted by the local coordinator, who felt that the flats here needed rejuvenation and redevelopment.
"The proposal is that this piece of land here (opposite the school) be used to build affordable housing to compensate existing residents, so that we can develop the area into a vibrant one. "The infrastructure and facilities, over the years, have worn out. It is in need of redevelopment."
Teng said the residents were currently staying in units measuring between 27 and 37 sq m, but with the new flats, they would get 74 sq m.
"We do not know how many yet. We got an architect to draw out the layout. "We need the mandate from the people, only then can we realise this dream of rebuilding and rejuvenating this place," he said, adding that the land was owned by the Penang Island Municipal Council and the state.
Two years ago, the state government reportedly announced that the Rifle Range flats would be upgraded under an urban renewal plan to rid it of its slum image.
State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow had then said that frequent lift breakdowns, faulty utility services, vandalism, lack of parking bays, bad hygiene, illegal hawkers and a high crime rate were among the problems faced by residents.
The 8ha Rifle Range project, completed in the 1970s, is the earliest low-cost housing project in the state, comprising nine blocks of flats with a total of 3,699 units and more than 15,000 residents.
