Bukit Melawati assemblyman Juwairiya Zulkifli said that if the proposal was sound, BN did not need to wait for GE15 to bring down property prices as the coalition already controlled the federal government.

She said it should walk the talk by providing discounts on affordable homes in the states it controlled before dreaming of making such offers to voters in Selangor.

“MCA should ask the federal government to implement it (50% housing discount) as a policy of the housing and local government ministry before proposing it for Selangor,” she told FMT.

“This is just a populist idea. It’s not practical when you consider that construction costs have gone up and developers are having a hard time meeting the demand for affordable housing.”

Juwairiya was commenting on Selangor MCA chief Ng Chok Sin’s remarks that the price of affordable homes in Selangor should be reduced by half if BN wrests control of the state in GE15.

For instance, Ng said, affordable homes built under a state government programme could be reduced in price from RM250,000 to RM125,000.

Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong challenged MCA to demand that the BN-run Melaka and Johor governments build affordable homes and sell them at half the price.

“What MCA (Ng) said, it’s just hot air. They will not and cannot do anything (to bring down the prices of homes),” she told FMT.

Sungai Pelek assemblyman Ronnie Liu said he appreciated the intention behind Ng’s proposal, but it was not realistic given the rising land prices and construction costs.

The DAP leader said the state government could identify suitable land for affordable housing projects and build them with developers to reduce construction costs.