Cheah Kah Peng (PKR-Kebun Bunga) told the assembly that a deranged arsonist had often targeted a particular 16-floor block of the flats, leaving nearly 1,000 residents using the fire stairways.
He said on Monday, the last of three lifts at the block was rendered useless after it was set on fire. The other two also had their insides damaged by fire earlier.
“The lift maintenance company told me no spare parts are available.
“I ask this august house to help my constituents to fix this immediately,” Cheah told the assembly during Jagdeep Singh Deo’s (DAP-Dato Keramat) winding-up session.
Jagdeep, who is state Housing Committee chairman, then told Cheah he would instruct the relevant parties to look into the matter urgently.
Jagdeep added the Penang government had spent RM11.5 million in maintenance work for the flats since 2010.
Later, Cheah told reporters that Block C of the Rifle Range Flats’ lifts had been often targeted by an unknown arsonist.
He said despite closed circuit TV (CCTV) camera surveillance, checks by village security development committee members and police watch at the block, the culprit had yet to be caught.
Cheah said the situation was made worse as the lift chamber was smaller than today’s regular-sized ones, making spares expensive and difficult to acquire.
“We need an effective and urgent solution to deter this arsonist from attacking again.
“An engineer checking the three lifts at the particular block just told me it would cost RM330,000 to repair all of them.
“And the question of when we can fix them, we cannot tell. It all depends on the availability of parts and funding,” he said at a press conference.
Cheah said such acts of destroying public property were nothing new as someone had swung an axe at the floor controls at Block J as well.
Rifle Range Flats, known as “Pat Cheng Por” to the locals, is the country’s first low-cost high-rise flats, built in 1969.
They comprise nine blocks, with 16 and 17 floors, in Air Itam.
It was named after an open space used as a shooting range by the police and military.
The towering flats are located on a 8ha site at the loop of Jalan Padang Tembak and Boundary Road, with both joining up at Jalan Air Itam.
There are 3,660 units, with nearly 15,000 residents, making them Penang’s largest low-cost government housing project.