10/01/2001 The Star
The authorities are urged to blacklist the directors instead of just
the housing developers' firms which failed to keep their promises to
purchasers.
State Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Dr Loh
Hock Hun said yesterday that blacklisting the companies was pointless as
the "errant persons'' could just set up another company.
He said numerous guidelines had been drawn up for developers but
whether they abide by them is another matter.
The Penang Municipal Council's excuse, he added, was that they did not
have the manpower to monitor all the approved development projects.
"But when the developers failed to deliver what they promised, the laws
are insufficient to hold them accountable or the penalties provided are
too low,'' he told a press conference.
Dr Loh, who is Paya Terubong assemblyman, said the laws must be
amended, for instance, to provide greater protection for purchasers of
abandoned projects.
He added he was tied up the whole of last year with the stalled
Majestic Heights project which left purchasers in a lurch.
On the project's status, Dr Loh said it was no longer held by
Perfectbuild Construction Sdn Bhd which was reported in August to have
taken over the 80% completed project from Majestic Heights Sdn Bhd.
He said a meeting would be held at Han Chiang College at 2pm on Jan 14
to explain the project's status and its future plans to purchasers.
