Consultants blamed for delayed projects

NST 23/08/2003 By Gulwant Kaur

Delays in obtaining approval for housing projects planned for Selangor are the result of developers hiring incompetent project consultants.

State Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo said this has affected up to 40 per cent of all submissions, and include cases where planners poorly position the mandatory open space in a housing scheme, thereby leading to a plan being rejected and returned to the drawing board.

Under the State's guide-lines, Khir said the open space should be the focal point of a community. However, some proposals distributed the space randomly or put it "in one end of a project for the enjoyment and benefit of only a minority of the population".

Khir said this after opening the state's Malaysian Property Exhibition (Mapex) housing fair held at the Sunway Convention Centre in Petaling Jaya last week.

He urged developers to protect their reputation by building well-planned, quality housing projects and ensure the prompt delivery of the houses.

"We must consider the views of the younger generation, who today make up 50 per cent of new house buyers," Khir said.

Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA) president Datuk Jeffrey Ng said he was in general agreement with Khir's statement.

"However, he pointed out, the size of a township also plays a part in locating the open space.

"If a developer builds a 5,000-acre scheme, then it would be a waste to put the required 10 per cent open space (equivalent to 500 acres) all in one area," he said. "It would be better if a number of small parks were created within the masterplan."

Even with 100 acres of land to work with, Ng said a developer might also want to break up the open spaces but in case of a 50-acre site, five acres would nicely fit  a jogging track around a reasonably-sized park.

Experienced consultants, Ng said would know the fundamentals of modern design  and take into consideration a State's overall planning requirements.

Be wary of engaging inexperienced professionals

"There are  good consultants and there are bad consultants," he said.

"Usually, inexperienced developers hire equally inexperienced consultants and leave it to them to get all the necessary approvals for a project. (The developers) will become wiser after learning from their mistake."

However, there is recourse if consultants provide unsatisfactory service. Ng said developers could report them to their professional bodies such as the Malaysian Institute of Planners or the Malaysian Institute of Architects for disciplinary action.

Ng advised all developers to go through the proper channels for approvals since there are no way they could ignore the State's guidelines on housing development.

Immediate past president of Rehda, Datuk Eddy Chen, said he saw no need for alarm on the matter of incompetent consultants.

In his view, all consultants and planners abide by the 10 per cent open space regulation and follow the State's rules on positioning of the land.

"There may be a few black sheep who do not follow guide-lines, although I have not encountered any," Chen said.

"However, I know of a few developers who try to avoid building what is required of them in a large project, such as schools, and who also try to cut back on the space allocation for public projects.

"If they do not comply with requirements, then it serves them right for not getting approvals on time."