Metro

Monday September 1, 2008

Rebuild Sungai Pari flats

By CHAN LI LEEN


THE Ipoh City Council is hoping that the Perak Government will agree to its suggestion to demolish and rebuild the problematic Sungai Pari Towers.

Datuk Bandar Roshidi Hashim said the council believed that rebuilding the apartment blocks, one of the oldest in Ipoh, could be the solution to providing a better living environment for its tenants.

“The council will seek the state’s approval and should it agree, we will be happy to come up with the building plans and implement the project,” Roshidi told reporters on Friday after chairing his first full board meeting as mayor.

Built in 1963, the 11 apartment blocks have been a constant source of complaints regarding the shoddy maintenance, vandalism and infestation by drug addicts.

The blocks are owned by the council and each unit is rented out for between RM80 and RM155 per month depending on the size of each unit.

Roshidi said the single-room units were no longer appropriate.

“The two and three-bedroom units are also not suitable for large families and can pose moral and social problems,” he said.

He added that the council could not rent out certain units due to their condition.

Roshidi added that not only were vandals destroying the blocks but that maintenance was very costly.

“It costs the council about RM245 to maintain each unit per month,” he said.

According to Roshidi, there are 288 units of which 201 are occupied.

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