Housing Tribunal in business on Dec 1
NST 19/11/2002 By Shamini Darshni
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18: The amended Housing Developers’ Act, which will better protect buyers with the setting up of a Housing Tribunal, takes effect on Dec 1.
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting today said the tribunal would also operate from the same date.
He said the Attorney-General's Chambers would name the chairman of the tribunal soon. A secretary has already been appointed.
The tribunal will assess every claim of RM25,000 or less to see whether it is appropriate to help the parties — the buyer and the developer — to negotiate a settlement.
Claims above RM25,000 would be heard by the normal courts.
The amended Act, which was gazetted on Feb 1, could not be implemented sooner as a suitable chairman had to be elected.
Ong said that over the last few days the Attorney-General's Chambers had also passed improvements made to Schedules G and H, although he did not elaborate.
Schedule G is the sale and purchase agreement for land and building, and Schedule H for subdivided buildings.
Ong said the amended law would come down hard on irresponsible developers, architects, developers and engineers in violation of the law and fined more than RM10,000 under the Act would not get project licences.
"Architects and engineers who have been convicted in court or deregistered by professional bodies governing them will have their applications for licences rejected," he said.
To a question, Ong said any requests for time extensions for housing projects would not be entertained if it was found the delays were caused by poor planning or negligence.
The liquidated ascertained damages or LADs, he said, only applied in cases of natural disasters.
"We are going to be strict with housing developers. My advice is that before housing development projects start, they (developers) have to plan carefully and responsibly.
"Before they build houses, they have to make sure they can deliver and before the S & P agreement is signed, they have to make sure they can honour the agreement," he said. |
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