Wanted: Tighter Law Enforcement To Protect Housebuyers

Bernama.com 6/10/2004 By Santha Oorjitham

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- "Revisit simple pleasures at Bandar Sungai Buaya," the sales brochure for the housing project in Selangor promised in 1997.

The developer promised "a low-density development with efficient infrastructural facilities", to be ready by the middle of 1999.

Part of the infrastructure was supposed to be a "proposed Sungai Buaya Interchange" which would be "only 30 kilometres on the North-South Expressway from Bukit Lanjan (Jalan Duta) Interchange, Kuala Lumpur."

But house buyers discovered that once again, what they saw in the brochure was not what was delivered.

Today, Bandar Sungai Buaya is certainly "low-density": Only 30 percent of the houses have been built, according to a spokesman of the Bandar Sungai Buaya Residents Association.

But the "efficient infrastuctural facilities" are sadly lacking, home-owners said.

There is no Sungai Buaya Interchange, for example.

"The only reason I bought the house was because of the interchange," copywriter Nawiruddin Zainal Abidin told Bernama.

"I was promised it would only take half an hour from my house to my office in Damansara."

Nawiruddin said the house was completed late and the Certificate of Fitness was delayed by about three years because the sewage system requirements were not met.

"We had problems with rubbish collection because the access roads, which were supposed to be two-way, were not complete," he added.

With all these obstacles, Nawiruddin decided not to move in.

But by renting it out for RM270 monthly, he cannot even meet his bank loan payments of RM720 per month.

And since the developer has not obtained individual titles for the home-owners, it is difficult to sell their property.

There may be a solution in the future for the residents of Bandar Sungai Buaya, the resident association spokesman said.

Their state assemblyman and member of parliament helped to put their case for an interchange to the Public Works Department, he explained, and the Department is considering a scaled-down version, with one exit and one entrance, southbound to Kuala Lumpur.

But looking back at their experience, the spokesman said: "The whole system of buying and selling houses in Malaysia has to be reviewed because there is no way to enforce the provision of infrastructure...outside your house."

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting told Bernama his ministry was looking at the Housing Development Act to see what further improvements could be made.

He said the ministry was considering expanding the powers of the Act to include serviced apartments and shophouses, for example.

The ministry was also considering increasing the maximum compensation which the House Buyers Claims Tribunal can award, from RM25,000 to RM50,000.

"The ministry will discuss with the House Buyers Association and other players before finalising the proposed amendments," he said when replying to written questions.

"Legislation is adequate but enforcement may be lacking," said the Malaysian Bar Council's conveyancing practice committee chairman Tony Woon, whose committee hears complaints of shoddy workmanship.

"A roof over your head is a basic human need," pointed out the chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia's (Suhakam) committee on complaints and investigations, Prof Datuk Hamdan Adnan. "You can't talk about human dignity without a roof over your head."

Between 10 to 20 percent of the complaints which his committee receives are about housing--mainly delays and abandoned projects.

"Additional legislation will not solve the problem due to enforcement limitations," claimed National House Buyers Association (HBA) secretary-general Chang Kim Loong.

Chang questioned whether the ministry has enough qualified personnel to diagnose problems and conduct checks based on the six-monthly reports on the status of every housing project, from the developers.

"That's why we suggest the 'build then sell' system which would encourage the industry to self-regulate."

The minister said the developers' biannual reports are handled by a section in the Enforcement and Monitoring Division known as the Complaints and Technical Investigation Unit.

The engineers and technicians in this unit investigate the reports when necessary, he added.

"HBA has also not seen media reports of any legal action against errant housing developers", Chang said.

"The ministry should send shivers down their spines by highlighting cases so other developers will be alerted that the ministry is serious about prosecution."

Ong said his ministry was taking "stern action" against 30 cases of developers who failed to honour awards made by the House Buyers Claims Tribunal.

The cases have been forwarded to the Attorney-General's Chambers and if the developers do not reply or pay the compensation before the deadline, they will be charged in court after the go-ahead from the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Ong noted that on conviction, they would be liable to a fine of up to RM5,000 and/or a jail sentence of up to two years.

"In the case of continuing offences, the offender shall be liable to a fine not exceeding RM1000 for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction," he said.

The Housebuyers Claims Tribunal, set up in December 2002, has settled 4,000 of the 6,000 complaints received since then.

HBA's Chang said the tribunal had done a "marvellous job" but he urged the ministry to increase the tribunal's powers to include jurisdiction over stalled housing projects.

-- BERNAMA