GEORGE TOWN: The cramped living conditions at the Kampung Melayu flats in Air Itam here have caught the attention of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim after he found out that each unit only had one room.
Built in the 1950s, the flats measuring 550 sq ft are among the oldest in the country.
Anwar was initially unaware of the issue until he asked the crowd during a ceramah here how many rooms were in the flats and they shouted: “One!”.
Anwar then said no family could live in a flat that small and told Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh to look into the matter.
“We have to find ways to bring change,” he said.
“I can’t promise you anything as we might run afoul of election laws.”
The Penang government had reportedly upgraded the flats more than a decade ago, spending RM1.4 million to spruce up the two blocks.
Buletin Mutiara reported that among the upgrades in December 2012 were four new lifts, new pathways, refuse chambers and mailboxes.