Originating from a
humble beginning as an Association for house buyers in Kuala Lumpur and
Selangor and the vicinity of the Klang Valley region, HBA has now evolved
into a National organisation that is geared towards undertaking a wider
range and scope of activities throughout the country.
A home is a basic human
necessity and yet there are so many unfortunate people who have had their
dreams of owning them shattered. What is more sorrowful is that most
of these cases involve house buyers in the lower income group.
Strictly committed to its
Charter in the search of solutions to problems as a result of prejudicial
treatment by some housing developers, the HBA has proposed that punitive
actions to be taken against those unscrupulous developers as a deterrent
to the rest.
As one of its initial projects,
the HBA has produced a House Buyers Guide Book to pre-warn house buyers
to be prudent with their purchases of houses and to be mindful of the pointers
stated in the Book before committing themselves to the purchase. They are
advised to consult their own lawyers or avail themselves to the services
rendered by HBA before signing the sales and purchase agreements.
The HBA has held “Meeting
the Public” sessions, twice a month on the first and third Saturdays (from
2 to 5pm), to attend to the woes and predicaments of house buyers and to
propose possible solutions to their problems. And because of the overwhelming
response from complainants these sessions functioned by volunteers, has
now been extended to every Saturday except for public holidays from 1pm
to 5pm. Unresolved cases are brought to the attention of the Ministry
of Housing and Local Government or the Ministry of Land & Cooperatives and
other relevant authorities to be further investigated and appropriately
dealt with. The HBA has also taken the lead to act as mediators in disputes
between house buyers and the developers wherever possible. Our objective
in such occasions is to attain a win-win solution.
The HBA was also instrumental
in the dialogues with relevant expertise during the course of reviewing
the amendments to the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966,
which was passed by Parliament last year. There are several more laws that
the HBA has mooted and these shall be announced from time to time.
House buyers are urged to
give their full support to the Association so that we are able to carry
out our noble objective of seeking protection for their rights. Their contributions
in the form of expertise, ideas for improvement, etc, would go a long way
to strengthen the efforts of the Association in the realisation
of an orderly housing industry system for the benefit of the people in the
country.
Yang Berbahagia
Datuk Hj. Zainuddin Hj. Bachik
