Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has instructed the Federal Territories Department and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to incorporate Madani housing blocks in every new residential project.

Anwar said this requirement is crucial for the approval of new housing developments, ensuring opportunities for low-income groups to become homeowners.

“The requirement is that one or two Madani housing blocks be included in new projects to benefit the public, as Madani housing is intended to meet the needs of not only civil servants, but also the more vulnerable B40 and M40 groups.

“The wealthy can build as many houses as they want, I don’t care… but the rest of the people need to be helped. That’s why government machinery must be mobilised to resolve the complicated housing issue. I see a list of 60,000 people queuing to get public housing.”

He made these remarks during the launch of the Malaysia Madani Civil Servants’ Housing programme in Bandar Sri Permaisuri here on Tuesday.

Anwar further said that the requirement reflects the government’s firmness, considering past housing projects did not emphasise the importance of affordable housing for the people.
“That’s why I say that if the leadership and civil servants are firm, many issues can be resolved. Otherwise, some people get a substantial sum, and the case is closed.

“Block ratios, green conditions, parks, school sites — all of these were ignored because they didn’t think about the people,” he said.
Therefore, the prime minister reiterated the importance of not taking the issues of governance, corruption and leakage lightly, as these matters impact the people’s welfare.

Source: The edge Malaysia

The average price of a new condominium in Tokyo’s 23 central wards in the first half of 2024 dropped 16.3 percent from a year earlier to 108.6 million yen ($690,000) after hitting a record high the previous year, but property prices remain at a high level, a research institute said Monday.

Affected by the decline in central Tokyo, the average for the wider metropolitan area covering the whole of the capital and surrounding prefectures also fell 13.5 percent to 76.8 million yen, the first decrease in three years, the Real Estate Economic Institute said.

The average unit price for the 23 wards slid from the record 129.6 million yen marked in the same period last year but exceeded 100 million yen for the second straight year.
With high-value property sales scheduled in some of the wards, the institute expects the average price to rise in the future.

The prices for the rest of Tokyo as well as the three surrounding prefectures — Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba — climbed, respectively, with Chiba marking a 22.3 percent increase to a record 58.3 million yen.

The number of new condominiums listed for sale in Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures tumbled 13.7 percent to 9,066 units, falling below 10,000 for the first time in four years for the January-June period. Those in Tokyo’s 23 wards declined 32.3 percent to 3,319 units.

Source: Kyodo

More Chinese solar manufacturers are falling into restructuring or bankruptcy, with a deepening oversupply and fierce price wars causing massive financial losses and threatening many smaller
players’ survival.

A subsidiary of Zhejiang
Akcome New Energy Technology Co was the latest to declare bankruptcy when it was ordered by a court to undertake a reorganising process after a creditor said the manufacturer “was not able to pay debts” and “clearly lacks solvency”, according to a filing by the parent company on Monday.

China’s world-leading solar industry is grappling with a wave of company failures and consolidation as excessive capacity pushes prices below production costs. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Tuesday pledged to smooth the process of allowing low-quality and outdated production capacities to exit, and prevent
vicious competition.

China “should strengthen the market mechanism that allows the superior to win and the inferior to be eliminated”, the CCP said in an online statement on Tuesday.

While bigger players like Longi Green Energy Technology Co have so far survived billions of yuan in losses by imposing production halts and lay-offs, smaller companies have fewer ways to plug financial gaps. The failure of Zhejiang Akcome Photoelectric Technology Co comes after another smaller manufacturer, Gansu Golden
Solar Co, entered a pre-reorganisation process earlier this month.

Akcome has been reporting net losses every year since 2019 and last month had to suspend solar module and cell production in four of its subsidiaries, including the arm that has now been forced into bankruptcy, according to its stock filings. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange terminated Akcome’s listing last month after its shares traded under one yuan
(14 US cents or 64 sen) for 20 consecutive days.

An industry group last week called on the government to roll out measures to facilitate faster consolidation, including not sending financial help to companies that are set to fail. The group also encouraged larger players to buy smaller plants.

Source: Bloomberg