JOHOR BARU: Bringing back the government quota for affordable home ownership would be a step backward for Johor and would only encourage corruption, says Parti Amanah Negara.

       Responding to the recent announcement by Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad that Barisan Nasional plans to bring back the quota if it wins the state election, Johor Amanah deputy chairman Dzulkefly Ahmad called the move “backward”.

       He claimed that the quota would allow 20% of affordable homes provided by the government to be given to Barisan component parties rather than their targeted recipients.

       “The scheme was carried out under Barisan and abolished when the state government came under the Pakatan Harapan administration in May 2018 because these houses did not reach the targeted B40 group,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

       Dzulkefly, who was the state executive councillor in charge of housing during Pakatan’s rule, claimed that an Umno Youth leader and his female friend were caught in a case offering affordable homes involving hundreds of thousands of ringgit.

       He alleged that with the quota scheme, affordable homes would end up in the hands of Barisan leaders.

       Dzulkefly, who is the Kota Iskandar incumbent assemblyman, said the Johor Mentri Besar’s intention would only encourage corruption.

       “The Pakatan administration had introduced a system of allocating affordable homes, which was more transparent through an open ballot where it was open to all qualified applicants,” he said.

       The applications were processed at the State Secretary’s Office (Housing Unit), he added.

       “Abolishing the scheme was one of the 10 items under Johor Pakatan’s manifesto that we successfully achieved within the first 100 days in power back in 2018,” he said.