House buyer's grouse over 26
months' delay by builder 01/06/2001 NST
FOUR years ago, my husband and I booked a double-storey
terrace house in Ulu Kelang under the project Ukay Perdana. As usual, the
house had a two-year completion period and was supposed to be ready by April
1999.
Stern action should be taken
against errant developers 01/06/2001 NST
FOR years, housing developers have failed substantially
to fulfil their obligations to deliver what they have promised in their marketing
brochures and advertisements inserted in the media when they launch the sales
of their housing projects. In most cases they have gotten away unpunished,
simply because there is little legislation to persecute them as well as poor
enforcement by the Housing Ministry and City Hall.
Buyers upset over cracked,
sinking units 01/06/2001 NST
HOUSEBUYERS of Kota Kemuning, Phase RP4A housing
scheme in Shah Alam, Selangor, want developer Hicom-Gamuda Development Sdn
Bhd to rebuild all 40 cracked and sinking houses rather than merely "patching-up"
cracks. The project of double-storey link houses was supposed to have been
completed by October but their current deteriorating state has caused great
concern among buyers uncertain about the fate of their investment.
Controversial fence
01/06/2001 NST
THE controversy of Selat Makmur Sdn Bhd's fencing
along Persiaran Syed Putra 5 in Kuala Lumpur could have been speedily resolved
if some urgency had been exercised in ascertaining the road's width right
at the start. Here's some background for those who weren't present when the
story unfolded. In Oct last year, Selat Makmur begun erecting a fence along
Persiaran Syed Putra 5, Kuala Lumpur. Residents of the terraces along that
stretch of tarmac were up in arms about it. It wasn't the fence they found
objectionable but rather its location. The developer had sited the fence on
the edge of a strip of land right next to the road.
Pemaju jamin baiki rumah retak 02/06/2001 HM
SHAH ALAM: Pemaju rumah teres berkembar Fasa RP4 A1 Kota Kemuning, di sini,
membuat keputusan tidak meruntuh 40 unit rumah yang menghadapi masalah keretakan.
Pemaju terbabit, Hicom Gamuda Sdn Bhd memberi jaminan membaiki rumah yang
mengalami kerosakan serius dengan kaedah penanaman cerucuk.
Nine-year wait ends for house
buyers 05/06/2001 NST-CITY
AFTER nine years of waiting, 215 residents of
Taman Orkid Desa, Bandar Tun Razak finally received certificate of fitness
for their houses. Present to break the news to them was Bandar Tun Razak MP
Datuk Tan Chai Ho.
Four small steps to anger 05/06/2001 MM
MORE than RM1,000 for every step. This is the
ridiculous sum 41 residents of Dewana Mansion in Taman Salak Selatan have
been told to pay for a four-step approach leading to their apartments.
`Keep promise to buyers'
06/06/2001 BT
SENTUL Raya Sdn Bhd, the developer of the Sentul Raya property project, was
reminded to keep its commitment to purchasers, says the Protem Committee of
Persatuan Pembeli-Pembeli Hartanah Sentul Raya.
Strata titles legislation given
more bite 06/06/2001 MM
AS indicated in previous statements by the Minister
for Land and Co- operative Development, amongst the things which the draftsman
had done to the existing law (the Strata Titles Act 1985, the Act) is to increase
the penalty on the developer for not applying for strata titles within the
prescribed period - a duty imposed under section 8(2) of the Act. Under the
old provision, which is section 8(5), the penalty is a fine not exceeding
RM5,000. Beyond that, there is a daily fine of not exceeding RM1,000 for as
long as the offence continues. After the amendment, there is a minimum fine
of RM10,000 and a maximum fine of RM100,000, plus a daily fine of not more
than RM1,000 for as long as the offence continues.
No CF, so community hall can't
be used 06/06/2001 MM
"WHAT is keeping the Shah Alam City Council from
issuing a certificate of fitness (CF) for a community hall in Jalan Ambar
3, Section 7 in Shah Alam?" Norazizan says the key handing-over ceremony for
the community hall and a surau was done in late 1999.
`See you in court'
06/06/2001 MM
LET the courts decide. This was the response
of the developer of the Dewana Mansion apartments in Taman Salak Selatan to
grouses from property buyers who were incensed that they had to pay a substantial
amount for extra built-up and a four- step approach area.
Apartmen masih tak siap 07/06/2001 HM
LOCK Yahya dari Shah Alam meminta penjelasan berhubung projek perumahan yang
lewat disiapkan di Bandar Pinggiran Subang 2, sejak satu setengah tahun lalu.
Menurutnya, dia sudah membeli apartmen itu pada 1996. Mengikut perjanjian,
projek itu sepatutnya siap akhir Disember 1999. Katanya, sebagai pembeli,
dia terpaksa membayar sewa rumah yang diduduki dan pinjaman perumahan berkenaan
dengan bank. "Apakah tindakan yang perlu diambil jika pemaju gagal menyiapkan
projek itu mengikut perjanjian yang ditandatangani dan adakah saya boleh menuntut
pampasan kerana kelewatan projek berkenaan," katanya. * PENGARAH Jabatan Kemasyarakatan
Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA), Normala Mohd Radzi, berkata hasil siasatan
mendapati projek perumahan itu bukan projek terbengkalai. Bagaimanapun, majlis
tidak boleh mengeluarkan sijil kelayakan menduduki bangunan (CF) kepada pemaju
projek kerana mereka belum memohon CF bagi unit apartmen itu. "Bagaimanapun,
pembeli boleh mendesak pemaju untuk mempercepatkan proses permohonan CF dari
MBSA bagi membolehkan pembeli menduduki unit apartmen itu dengan segera,"
katanya.
Leaking roof at City Hall flats 07/06/2001 MM
FOR more than a year, Lung and family of Sentul have been busy moving their
stuff around each time it rains. Why? "We are staying in a City Hall flats
and for more than a year the common roof has been leaking. I think the gutters
are clogged with leaves from a nearby tree," he says.
2,000
oil palm trees destroyed in flooding due to development project
08/06/2001 NST
SERENDAH, Thurs. - About 2,000 oil palm trees in a family-managed estate here
were destroyed or inaccesible due to flooding and siltation following uncontrolled
property development at an adjoining area. Ladang Guru Nanak managing partner
Bhupender Singh said the project had caused some 1,320 trees to be submerged
in water and accumulated with silt.
Bid to revive stalled housing
project 08/06/2001 NST
SEREMBAN, Thurs. - The State Government will persuade the developer of a stalled
low-cost housing project at a State awarded land at Air Kuning in Gemencheh
to proceed with the project. Menteri Besar Tan Sri Mohamad Isa Abdul Samad
said the developer deemed the four-hectare land at Kg Punggur unsuitable for
building low-cost units, despite protests by housebuyers there.
RM10m for research programme
08/06/2001 NST
PETALING JAYA, Thurs. - Individuals and companies can use the Housing and
Local Government Ministry's RM10 million allocation to do research on building
cost-effective quality buildings and houses. Its Deputy Minister Datuk Peter
Chin Fah Kui said the Government needed innovative ideas on building quality
houses fast and cheaply following numerous complaints of low-quality materials,
shoddy workmanship, defects and undue delays in completion.
Property development planning 09/06/2001 NST
PROPERTY development is the engine of growth
for developing countries. The need for housing development has been high,
consistent with improvements in the standards of living. The status of housing
development is urgent and important in our economy. Money spent by a housing
developer generates three times the expenditure and links over 140 related
industries in other sectors of the economy. However, if a housing developer
faces problem of project abandonment, it would be translated into an adverse
domino reaction affecting other sectors of the economy as well. Thus, a housing
developer must realise his company's strategic importance in the business
and the overall economy.
Sentul Raya property buyers
against plan changes 09/06/2001 NST
SENTUL Raya Sdn Bhd, the developer of the Sentul
Raya property project, was reminded to keep its commitment to purchasers,
says the Protem Committee of Persatuan Pembeli-Pembeli Hartanah Sentul Raya
(PPH). In a statement recently, the committee led by Moideen Kutty said this
included completion of the Golfview Sangsuria condominiums, retention of the
golf course which has already been constructed, non-scrapping of the Villa
Perhentian medium cost condominiums and S2 Boulevard shopoffices
Developer fails to make reparation 11/06/2001 NST
I SYMPATHISE with Faridah Baba and F.C. (NST,
June 1). Five years ago, I booked a condo unit in Batu Ferringhi in Penang.
The sale and purchase agreement stated that the completion period was to be
36 months.
Construction defects
11/06/2001 MM
THE architect is the doctor of the building under
construction. Like the doctor who knows where the veins run in the body, the
architect is and must be aware of what goes where in the building. However,
there is a catch. "The doctor's mistake is buried six feet underground, whereas
the architect lives to see his mistake," says Akbal Singh Sandhu, an architect
of 25 years' standing and whose Building Inspection Services has spearheaded
an awareness on the rights of house buyers. The architect may not be a party
to the building contract that is signed between the developer and the contractor,
but he is implied in the contract and he is supposed to be judicial as its
administrator.
Sentul Raya opposition 12/06/2001 NST
THE Pro-tem Committee of Sentul Raya Property
Buyers recently met Segambut Member of Parliament Dr Tan Kee Kwong to express
their opposition to the proposed changes to Sentul Raya Project Master Plan
drawn up in 1995. The committee sought to prevent the changes from being implemented
and urged Dr Tan to support their bid.
Poor feedback from residents
12/06/2001 MM
MORE views and objections are required from residents
in Section 8, Petaling Jaya over the up-and-coming condominium blocks and
commercial projects at a former workshop colony at Lot 12, Jalan Sungai Jernih.
Since the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council sent notices asking for the residents
views and objections in April, only eight have responded.
Builder to make good damage
caused by landslide 12/06/2001 MM
JUST when a creep wall was being built to prevent
another landslide, it came crumbling down a week later, causing considerable
damage to another house in Seksyen 5, Wangsa Maju. The first incident occurred
on April 16, while the other was about a week later.
Strata Titles Act needs fine-tuning
13/06/2001 NST
THE recent amendment to the Strata Titles Act,
1985 making it an offence for failure to pay maintenance fees on the part
of condominium proprietors is welcome. As a council member of a management
corporation formed by the proprietors to manage a condominium, I would like
to share my experience with others. One is inclined to think that where the
owners themselves manage the condominium, collection of the monthly maintenance
charges would not be a problem. But this is not so.
Pay attention to buyers' needs,
preferences 13/06/2001 BT
AGAINST the backdrop of a slow economic recovery
the importance of delivering the right product at the right time to the customers
becomes more important. Creative marketing alone, in current conditions, would
be insufficient to turn prospective purchasers into confirmed purchasers.
400 rumah rosak 13/06/2001 HM
RAWANG: Lebih 400 rumah di Bandar Sungai Buaya dekat sini, rosak terutama
pada bahagian bumbung akibat dilanda ribut, petang semalam. Dalam kejadian
itu 30 kanak-kanak berusia antara dua hingga enam tahun bertempiaran lari
bersama penjaga mereka apabila atap genting pusat penjagaan kanak-kanak berterbangan
dalam kejadian kira-kira jam 4.40 petang.
Workers to send memo to minister
on errant developers 14/06/2001 The Star
THE MTUC Workers' Consumer Movement said it will submit a memorandum soon
to the Housing and Local Government Ministry calling for legal action against
housing developers who violated sales-purchase agreement with house buyers.
Pemaju setuju bantu mangsa ribut 14/06/2001 HM
RAWANG: Seramai 400 pemilik rumah lega apabila pemaju perumahan bersetuju
membaiki bumbung yang rosak selepas terbabit dalam kejadian ribut di Bandar
Sungai Buaya, dekat sini. Tindakan itu diambil selepas persatuan penduduk
mengadakan perjumpaan dengan pemaju, Bandar Sungai Buaya Sdn Bhd (BSB), di
pejabat pemaju di sini, pagi semalam.
Make them pay 15/06/2001 NST-PROP
ACCORDING to newspaper reports last April, 32
condo owners who had earlier sued their developer, Endah Raya Realty Sdn Bhd
for breach of contract had finally agreed to an out-of-court settlement. The
subject matter of their dispute was the Shang Village condominium project
in Kelana Jaya. The plaintiffs had filed a court action against the developer
whom they felt had wrongly deceived them through misrepresentations in its
advertising brochures. Apart from the developer (sued as first defendant),
the plaintiffs had also sued Shang Management Services Sdn Bhd (as second
defendant) and Talam Corporation Bhd (project manager, as third defendant).
Flood victims waiting for compensation
15/06/2001 MM
WHERE's the compensation money? Flood victims in Puchong, 12th Mile want to
know what happened to the RM200,000 compensation money due them, which was
given to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council by a housing developer, IOI Properties.
Alarming approvals 15/06/2001 NST-PROP
LOCAL authorities need to be more selective when
granting approvals for new housing projects in the light of the RM6.61 billion
overhang of residential properties that currently exists throughout the country.
The Ministry of Finance's Valuation and Property Services Department (VPSD)
deputy director-general Mani Usilappan said local authorities need to study
applications for approvals carefully, keeping in mind the number of approvals
that have already been given out and the demand for such properties.
YTL revives Sentul Raya project
18/06/2001 MM
INVESTORS of the stalled Sentul Raya project
can take heart that the development is being revived by YTL Corporation Berhad.
Last month, YTL became the majority shareholder of Taiping Consolidated Berhad,
which owns the project's developer, Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd.
Looking into condition of buildings 20/06/2001 NST
THE report under the headline "Act to oversee condition of buildings" (NST,
May 29) was so brief that readers could be excused for not having read it,
or if they had, could make little of it. Yet it may be a milestone leap to
the local construction current practice, also to academics in the local institutions
of higher learning. What was reported was that an Act to be called the Commissioner
of Building Act was to be tabled by the Housing and Local Government which,
if we may intepret it correctly, will put a lid on the number of developers
who abandon their projects and those who do not have the necessary credibility
to implement development projects professionally in terms of building standards.
Maintenance Of Building Important
20/06/2001 NST By Prof Bill Hamilton and Dr Wan Salleh Wan Ibrahim are with
the Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, UiTM. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia,
--The report under the headline "Act to oversee condition of buildings" (NST,
May 29) was so brief that readers could be excused for not having read it,
or if they had, could make little of it.
Early delivery of Semenyih
Indah homes 21/06/2001 MM
IT was all smiles for the 300 house buyers of
Semenyih Indah on Thursday when they were handed keys to their new houses,
a year and half ahead of schedule. The purchasers of the freehold property
comprising 140 units of low-cost and 160 units of low-medium-cost apartments
that were only scheduled for completion in March 2002, were given vacant possession
in March 2001, soon after the development was completed
Puchong flood victims receive
compensation 21/06/2001 MM
WHILE waiting for compensation from the Subang
Jaya Municipal Council, flood victims at the 12th Mile New Village in Puchong
can take heart as their plight is not forgotton. The flood victims received
goodwill money from the housing developer, IOI Properties.
1,124 buyers can move into new homes
next year 21/6/2001 The Star
After a delay of 15 months, the 1,124 housebuyers of Taman Hijau Phase 1 in
Paya Terubong can look forward to moving into their low-medium cost units
early next year. The remaining 1,101 housebuyers under the project's Phase
2 can expect to occupy their units in 2003.
Delay in processing housing
loan application 22/06/2001 NST
I RECENTLY booked a double-storey house in Taman
Sri Bangi, Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor. This project is a joint venture between
a private developer and Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor. After paying
10 per cent of the purchase price as downpayment in January, I proceeded to
apply for a loan with the housing loans division, Perbandaran Malaysia. Sad
to say my application could not be processed due to the non-availability of
subdivided lots for the houses.
RM200,000 compensation payment
22/06/2001 MM
THE Petaling District Office has already disbursed
compensation to families affected by floods in Puchong last April. District
Officer Mohd Samsuddin Lias said RM200,000 compensation payment from housing
developer, IOI Properties, was distributed during the Selangor Sultan's visit
to the area then.
Kuala Lumpur set to be squatter-free by 2003 22/06/2001
NST
KUALA Lumpur City Hall's vision to turn the Federal Territory into a squatter-free
area is progressing as planned. Datuk Bandar Tan Sri Kamaruzzaman Shariff
said he was confident that by 2003, City Hall will be able to relocate all
squatters in the Federal Territory into either low-cost or public housing
schemes.
Allocate vacant area for facilities,
developers told 23/06/2001 NST
THE Ampang Jaya Municipal Council has proposed that, on top of the ruling
to reserve 10 per cent of land as an open space, developers should utilise
remaining vacant land for the benefit of residents. This could be in the form
of kindergartens, multi-purpose halls, surau or for the relocation of hawker
stalls under one roof.
New groups helping to air
grouses 24/06/2001 The Sun By P.Vijian
In frustration, Andrew turned for advice to the House Buyers Association (HBA)
a non-profit organisation dedicated to redressing the weak position of buyers
in relation to developers.
Amicable end likely to Lagoon
Perdana issue28/06/2001 NST
SUBANG Jaya Municipal Council has agreed to study the conditions proposed
by Bandar Sunway Residents' Association on the Lagoon Perdana project. Speaking
to reporters after receiving a memorandum from association chairman Goh Hai
Thuan, MPSJ president Ahmad Fuad Ismail said a compromise had been reached
after several meetings with residents.
Land & General loses RM120.2m
28/06/2001 NST
DEBT-RIDDEN property developer Land & General Bhd (L&G) recorded a pre-tax
loss of RM120.2 million last year, against a pre-tax profit of RM60.3 million
made in the previous year. The group's turnover also dropped 20 per cent to
RM450.4 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2000 compared with RM563.5
million in 1999.
The concrete crusader 29/06/2001 MM
"WE lack enforcement will. People behind this
(enforcement of laws) do not have conviction. The consumer associations talk
about goods in the super market, but when it comes to the construction industry
they lack technical expertise. People who lead them only look for titles.
We need comfort zones to bring down temperatures, not ornamental tiling of
road sites that not only radiates heat, but contributes to flooding. Technical
common sense is not common in this country." These are all but some of the
blistering outbursts of architect, town planner, arbitrator and best of all
a crusader against poor construction of houses, Akbal Singh Sandhu. Endowed
with nerves of steel, Akbal's concrete actions have sent shivers down the
spines of many a developer. What sets him apart from the rest of the multitude
is this crusader has the courage to stand by what he says.
