Sabah to amend laws on strata title

Utusan 23/05/2003

KOTA KINABALU May 22 - Sabah will amend its Land (Subsidiary Title) Enactment 1972 to further strengthen regulations pertaining to strata titles in the state.

Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Salleh Tun Said said Thursday that the amendment, to be tabled at the State Legislative Assembly sitting on Monday and Tuesday, was to avoid a repeat of the problems currently faced by the developers and buyers of parcel buildings in the state.

"It may not be able to solve the problems we face now but it would provide the guidelines so that current problems would not be repeated in the future," he told reporters after opening the Third Subsidiary Title Seminar organised by the Sabah chapter of the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia, here.

Among the issue that needed to be looked into was the need to resolve issues relating to the building management prior to the issuance of the subsidiary titles, whereby owners of the parcels are required to contribute towards the management fees.

"Currently, the developers are undertaking such task ... such arrangement suits well if the developers are honest. But what if the developer absconds? We will then have buildings that are ill-maintained, become an eyesore and house unhealthy activities within the premises," he said.

Hence, he said, there was a need to further strengthen the 1972 Enactment pertaining to the management corporation after the issuance of subsidiary titles.

"Extensive provisions must be incorporated, especially in the collection of management fees and in the management of the building. In other words, the set of provisions must be enforceable," he said.

He urged parcel owners to engage qualified property managers - those registered with the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia - to manage their buildings.

He said that reports indicated that there were 12,000 units of building parcels in Sabah with about 6,300 units in Kota Kinabalu alone, both as stock and under construction.

Salleh said the government was also looking into ways to solve problems already facing the industry which will not be covered by the new amendments.