Chin: States should have housing tribunal

11/02/2002 The Star

MIRI: Sabah and Sarawak should have laws allowing them to set up tribunals for consumers seeking more options to remedy problems relating to housebuying.

Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui, who proposed this, said that at present the two states have their own housing ordinance to govern matters relating to housing but the ordinance does not have provisions for setting up such tribunals.

This, he said, was unlike the Housing and Developers Act in Peninsular Malaysia which allows the tribunal to be formed to provide housebuyers a second avenue, after the courts, to settle grouses with developers.

“The tribunal will allow dissatisfied housebuyers who do not wish to take their cases to court, to seek a speedy solution from the tribunal.

“The choice of going to court to settle their cases will always be there but the tribunal will serve as a second alternative for a compromise between the developers and the buyers,” Chin told a press conference after opening the Miri Consumers Tribunal on Saturday.

He added: “The ministry has received a lot of complaints from houseowners, most of which concerned poor workmanship, such as cracks on walls and floors, sinking driveways and leaking roofs.

“These problems cost a few thousand ringgit to repair and going to court to settle them will be too expensive.”

Chin said it was up to the state governments of Sabah and Sarawak to include a tribunal in their housing ordinance as this matter needed to be presented in the State Assembly for approval.