The house buyers signed sale and purchase agreements with the developer Pancaran Nilai it and its parent company JBT, who promised to deliver the houses in January this year.

However, work on the 378 -unit apartment project worth between RM97,000 and RM99,000 has yet to be completed.

"We noticed that work on the project stopped about nine months ago. At first the developers told us that work has slowed down because of a shortage of workers, but later they admitted that work has stopped because they had been employing illegal workers, who had since been repatriated," said one of the house buyers, accounts manager Vivien , 28.

Another buyer, accounts clerk Hun Kok Min, 28, said: "We want priority to be given to completing our homes. The buildings are barely 50% complete and the workers are still doing concreting. Many of us took housing loans and are paying rent in addition to the interest on the loan while waiting for the apartments to be completed".

When contacted, Pancaran Nilai site manager Go Hean Peen said: "Work is ongoing and about 80% has been completed. We are now testing the lifts, installing water tanks and , streetlights, and finishing some minor landscaping work."

"No assurances but if all the contractors turn up and do their work quickly the project can be completed within three months," he said when asked about the date of completion.

On the failure to deliver the ,houses by the agreed date, Go said: "Developers have an obligation to fulfill the S&P (sale and purchase) requirements but I am just a site manager

JBT general manager Len Min Vong declined to comment on the delay.

On the residents' next course of action, Soo said: "We recently organised a picket and have sent a letter to the Housing and Local Government Ministry to ask for help. We will wait a few weeks for a reply.