Ting: Strata titles to be expedited

NST 20/06/1999  By A Hafiz Yatim

Malacca, Sat - The Housing and Local Government and the Land and Co-operative Development  Ministries are working closely with the State Governments to expedite the issuance of strata titles to condominium and apartment buyers.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Ting Chew Peh said the State Governments and local councils lost out in their collection of quit rents due to the lackadaisical attitude of some of developers who delayed applying for the titles.

"My ministry has received numerous complaints from the public, airing their grievances over not getting their strata titles although they have been living in apartments or condominiums for a long time.

"Ministry officers have held discussions with representatives from the Land and Co-operative Development Ministry and State Land and Mines officers to resolve this issue," he said.

Ting said some developers did not apply as they did not want to pay the rate imposed for the issuance of titles.

He also said there were some developers who said they did not know how to apply for the titles. "Developers should not come up with such excuses. If they do not know, they can always call us for guidelines."

The Ministers said this to reporters after visiting the new Kampung Baru Bukit Beruang village yesterday.

He as asked to comment on delays in issuance of strata titles.

The Malacca Government recently announced the formation of a one-step agency to issue strata title.

There are about 3,000 units in Malacca which had yet to be issued strata titles.

On new villages, Ting said there were 452 new villages in the country with a total population of 1.7 million compared to 500,000 in the early 1940s.

As the population in these areas was increasing rapidly, the State Governments should consider increasing the number of houses there, he said.

Some States like Selangor, Perak and Malacca have constructed low-cost houses in the areas to meet the demand.

Ting added that the ministry had allocated between RM6 million and RM7 million annually for upgrading the infrastructure at these villages.

He said an allowance of RM150, 000 had been passed to upgrade the infrastructure at seven villages in the Melaka Tengah district.