The Phase I purchasers' ad-hoc committee claimed that no work had been done on the 80% completed first phase since Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting issued an ultimatum to the developer in July to find a solution within a month or face stern action.

Committee chairman Lim Beng Hong urged the ministry to exercise its power under the Housing Developers' Act 1966 by penalising the developer.

"We want the ministry to intervene in anyway it deems fit. The culprits must be penalised or else other developers will follow suit,'' Lim said.

Lim claimed that there was no development at Phase I although some work were being carried out at Phase 2B.

State executive councillor Dr Loh Hock Hun said the state government was monitoring the work which was already in progress.

"We are not God. There are so many legal matters to attend to but we are doing our best.

"We are working on the project as a whole and it makes no difference whichever phase is revived first,'' said Loh, who is also Paya Terubong assemblyman.

He said he had asked the project's new contractor for a new work schedule early this month and will inform the committee once he received it.

Launched in 1994, Taman Terubong Indah was an ambitious multi-million ringgit project of Majestic Heights Sdn Bhd (a member of Nichmurni Group) to be developed over 11 phases with 6,335 mixed housing units.

Phase I comprising 1,557 units of medium cost apartments, and Phase 2B with 342 apartments were scheduled to be completed in 1997 and 1998 respectively.

However, the project was stalled when the developer got into financial problem during the economic slowdown.

It was earlier reported that a Kuala Lumpur-based company, Perfectbuild Construction (M) Sdn Bhd had consented to taking over the stalled project with an incentive of being granted approval to build another 7,000 low-medium cost units beside the project.