THE Penang Ratepayers Association wants the state to stop temporary approval for development projects until a comprehensive audit is done on all new residential and commercial units in the state.
If one surveys the new housing and commercial schemes, they will find most of the projects are unoccupied, yet the local authorities continue to up the assessment/quit rent rates.
Most of the average ratepayers are struggling with living costs spikes and new charges for various essential services such as healthcare and transport, said association president Lee Kim Noor.
A member of the Penang Forum civil society movement, Lim said that ratepayers should not be compelled to pay quit rent for any "wastage" in housing and commercial projects, especially ones which do not reflect high occupancy rates.
"Everywhere we go, there is darkness in such projects. Are they completed? are there adequate investors or buyers. If there is none, it is only fair, we halt development until the property market corrects itself," said Lim.
She was speaking at the sidelines of the "Speak Up" forum, which was organised by 11 CSO - link organisations and associations here.
Lim said that the association is baffled by the decision by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to once again hike quit rent rates.
Based on her calculations, Penang ratepayers are paying the highest quantum despite alleged substandard local delivery services and the pressure from living cost spikes, said Lim.
She has voiced strong objections to what she described as an “unreasonable and shocking” hike in quit rent slated for next year, saying the increase, by several hundred to thousand percent, will burden households.
The association under Lim claims that the hike would affect about 370,000 title holders, translating into a heavier annual financial load and potentially triggering higher inflation in the state.
The forum also touched on land reclamation to rehabilitate the Jelutong landfill - a move which the Karpal Singh Drive residents claimed, would pollute their neighbourhood through the air and land.
There is also the wrangle about construction of a public recreational park off Tanjung Bungah, which the resident’s association claimed does not adopt the due process and yet to be completed.
Other issues raised is the development is the hidden costs of development, flash floods, landslides and the mega infrastructure projects, which causes mega problems to the local residents. - December 4, 2025.
