HBA: No abandoned projects if developers follow the law
29/12/2001 The Star By Clarence Chua

PETALING JAYA: House buyers would not have to face the prospects of abandoned projects if the law was properly adhered to, said the House Buyers Association (HBA). 

The Housing Developers Act stipulated that money collected by a developer from buyers could not be used for other purposes, said HBA secretary-general Chang Kim Loong, adding that the they were also required by law to furnish to the Controller of Housing periodic statements of their financial situation. 

“If these rules are stringently adhered to, the Housing (and Local Government) Ministry should be able to get an early warning of the viability of a project well before it reaches the no-hope stage,” he said. 

Chang was commenting on a statement by Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui last week that 20% of abandoned housing projects in Peninsular Malaysia had been classified as “no-hope”. 

Chin had said that most of these projects were in the Klang Valley, adding that only 52 were deemed viable. 

“Most of the affected buyers who declined to have the project revived are those who only paid the 10% deposit,” Chin was quoted as saying. 

Chang said abandoned projects were the result of developers not submitting their financial statements to the ministry or had channelled money from house buyers towards other purposes. 

“If that is the case, they are deemed to have broken the law. Has any developer been taken to court for such failures?”