PR1MA dodges feast cost queries, JB MP asks about another do
Johor Bahru MP Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir has expressed disappointment with Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA) for sidestepping his question regarding the cost of a feast held by the agency on April 18 in Kuala Lumpur.
“The refusal to respond raises a lot of questions on PR1MA’s accountability and transparency, in view of the many homebuyers who have yet to be compensated for late delivery or cancellations,” said Akmal in a statement today.
The breaking of fast feast he was referring to was held at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur involving PR1MA staff and orphans. It was witnessed by the media.
Yesterday, PR1MA issued a statement saying that it was committed to fulfilling its obligation to homebuyers and made a veiled reference to Akmal, by citing a PR1MA project in his constituency which will be completed by May, albeit late.
However, the agency made no mention of the feast, which was the crux of a statement issued by Akmal on Wednesday.
In view of this, Akmal pointed to a different breaking of fast feast held at Shah Alam on April 17.
Akmal said PR1MA needed to clarify if its senior management took part in the feast and were on stage handing out Ramadan goodies at an event where many Selangor Umno leaders were present.
“If that is true, why are senior PR1MA officers attending an Umno function? Were PR1MA contributions or sponsorship involved?” asked Akmal.
He said that with Parliament suspended, he would have to resort to such measures to seek answers.
He said PR1MA should be focussing solely on its mandate, which is to provide affordable housing solutions for the M40 category.
“The best method for PR1MA to perform charity is to compensate homebuyers affected by late delivery and ensure that projects are on schedule,” the MP said.
Officially, the April 17 event was organised by Yayasan Pok dan Kassim, a foundation headed by PR1MA chairperson and Arau MP Shahidan Kassim.
PR1MA was launched in 2011 by then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. The agency’s mandate was to deliver 500,000 "affordable" homes for the middle-income group by 2020.
According to PR1MA's annual report for 2018, the latest that is publicly available, 12,087 units were completed as of end-2018 while another 43,137 were under construction.
Parliament was told in December last year that there were 32 cancelled PR1MA projects which cost taxpayers RM172 million in compensation for 17 of those projects.
