Yee: Assure house buyers that no developers taken
advantage of them
New Sabah Times 4/6/2003
KOTA KINABALU: Api-Api Assemblyman Dr Yee Moh Chai has challenged
the Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHREDA) to
publicly assure house buyers in Sabah that none of the developers
have taken advantage of the buyers.
He issued the challenge in response to the recent statement by
SHREDA rebutting his earlier statement concerning the late issuance
of strata titles for high-rise buildings and apartments.
Dr Yee had claimed in that statement that there were some
unscrupulous developers in the state who seemed to deliberately
delay the application of strata titles so that they could benefit
from the monthly ‘maintenance fee’ which house purchasers have to
pay.
“I’m very disappointed and saddened by what had been said by the
association and their insensitivity towards the plight of the
consumers,” Dr Yee said.
He said unless they could give assurance that none of the developers
had ever take advantage of the house purchasers, they were not
qualified to issue the statement in question which was rather
misleading.
“Besides, they also owe the house purchasers, especially those who
were victimised, an apology for issuing such a misleading
statement,” he stressed.
On the association’s request to him to submit the list of the
developers who have misused the fund together with evidence so that
immediate action can be taken against them, Dr Yee said he has
plenty of such complaints and was in the midst of compiling them.
“I will give a copy (of the complaints) to them soon,” he said.
Dr Yee also called on those house purchasers who were unhappy with
their developer to acquire a copy of their annual accounts (for the
last few years) in order to determine that everything is in order.
“If they (the house purchasers) encounter any difficulties in
acquiring the annual accounts, please contact me. I will assist them
to get it,” he said.
It was reliably learnt that some of the developers who were acting
as the temporary management corporation (TMC) failed to have their
annual accounts audited.
One known case that was highlighted by the New Sabah Times some four
years involved a flat in Likas. And until today, the house
purchasers have yet to receive their strata titles.
The late issuance or the non-application of strata titles by certain
developers has landed many house purchasers in a dilemma, especially
when they were faced with poor maintenance.
Under the existing law, house owners or tenants of a high-rise
building are only allowed to set up or appoint their own management
corporation to maintain the common properties, after they have
obtained the strata titles.
Apart from this, house buyers are unable to sell their property due
to the late issuance of strata titles. |
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