Pay up, defaulters warned

31/07/2003 The Star By Foong Pek Yee

KUALA LUMPUR: Owners of high-rise residential and commercial units will face legal action if they default on their payment of maintenance fees under the proposed Building and Common Property Act, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said. 

He said his ministry and the Attorney-General’s chambers were fine-tuning the Bill, including a cut-off point when defaulters should be hauled up to court. 

“If owners just default in payment for a month or two or RM20, for instance, it might not warrant court action yet,” he explained. 

Under the proposed Act, it would be compulsory for the developer and residents to form a joint management committee to manage the property and the committee must be set up within three months from the day the owners get the keys to their units, Ong said.  

For existing buildings which had yet to get their strata titles, they would also be required to set up the committee three months from the date the Act took effect, he said. 

“Quite a number of buildings are still without strata titles,” he said. 

Ong said the joint committee would function until the issuance of the strata titles as under the Strata Titles Act 1985, owners were entitled to form their own management committees without the developers.  

Currently, developers collected maintenance fees from buyers and managed the units but there were many complaints under this arrangement, he said. 

“Developers complain that many residents do not pay up while the residents also question the rationale for paying to developers who provide poor maintenance,” Ong told a press conference before a post-Cabinet meeting here yesterday. 

In another development, Ong said the National Water Council chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad had agreed that all new buildings under the local authorities and state governments must install the system to harvest rain water for re-use – washing and watering of plants, for instance.  

As for existing buildings, they would have to implement it wherever possible, Ong said, adding that he had presented a paper at the meeting which was also attended by the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mentris Besar and Chief Ministers on Tuesday.