Floods disrupt transportation

PETALING JAYA: Floods in the northern states have disrupted all bus, train and air services.

Buses scheduled to run from Sungai Petani and Alor Setar to areas in the north such as Changloon, Jitra, Kodiang, Arau, Kuala Perlis and Kangar were cancelled yesterday.

“We can only go as far as Simpang Empat, Simpang Kuala Perlis, which is 4km away from Kangar, and from there on, passengers will have to find their own way,” said Kenderaan Langkasuka supervisor Ahmad Rejap.

Ahmad said the bus services along these routes had yet to be rescheduled.

Buses have been unable to go into those areas since Monday when water started rising.

“We have had to also cancel services to Universiti Utara Malaysia in Sintok and many were unable to make it for the convocation on Tuesday,” he added.

Transnasional, the leading express bus service in the country, has also cancelled its services from Kuala Lumpur to Kangar.

“Passengers would have to get off at Seriap and find alternative means of transport to their final destinations.

“We are doing all that we can,” said Transnasional acting head of operations Muhammad Saiful.

More Details: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/4/nation/7358351&sec=nation

Buyers to pay more after second house

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians have to fork out more money from today to buy more than two houses after Bank Negara slammed the brakes on property speculation.

The central bank announced with immediate effect the implementation of a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 70% for people buying their third or more house, meaning those wanting their third property onwards have to come out with their own cash amounting to 30% of the value of the house.

“Financing facilities for purchase of the first and second homes are not affected and borrowers will continue to be able to obtain financing for these purchases at the present prevailing LTV level applied by individual banks based on their internal credit policies,” Bank Negara said in a statement yesterday.

The central bank said at the national level, property prices had increased steadily and remained manageable compared with the historical trends but for certain hot locations, particularly around the urban areas, faster growth in prices and transactions had been seen.

“This is further supported by an increase in financing provided for multiple unit purchases by a single borrower, suggesting increasing investment activity that is of a speculative nature,” it said.

Source : The Star