More affordable housing making its way to market
Kenanga Research says the property sector continues to improve based on what it sees dissipating concerns over affordability...
The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) has called for the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0 (RTK 2.0) recalibration fees to be reduced from the current RM1,500.
Its president Datuk NK Tong said that by reverting to a lower fee, any savings can be passed to potential homebuyers in the form of cheaper house prices, even while developers work to keep prices down in the face of ongoing and rising inflation.
Tong said the current fees is excessive for many companies and operators, particularly in fields where several projects frequently require the hiring of hundreds of personnel.
He said the costs will mount up to a considerable sum that many businesses would not be able to afford it.
"We believe that the fee should be kept as low as possible to encourage related businesses to take part in the programme, otherwise the high amount can be a deterrent.
"Through the programme, the government's aim should be to help the industries and the nation's economy to recover so that companies can offer more jobs to more workers and be profitable to pay taxes.
"The programme itself should not be used as a source of income for the government. At the present moment where all costs continue to increase, the government should come in to assist," he said in a statement.
Tong said Rehda will encourage employers in all industries with undocumented migrant workers to participate in the recalibration process to ensure that the welfare of their employees is protected and that their projects and businesses may resume without problems.
"We hope our members will adhere to this law, as reluctance to do so may affect the development of your current projects and planned developments in the future," he said.
On January 27, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail stated that there was no reason for reducing or eliminating the RM1,500 fee for hiring unauthorised immigrants in this country under RTK.
According to him, the recalibration initiative brought in more than RM700 million for the government last year.
