House owners who spoil the neighbourhood
The Sun 8/11/2005

RECENTLY, a building under renovation in Petaling Jaya attracted considerable attention. It was illegal and causing problems to the neighbour.

It also belonged to the wife of Datuk Mohmad Shaid Mohd Taufek, the former mayor of Kuala Lumpur. Linking illegal acts to a recognsied name often makes common events newsworthy.

The focus should be on the failure of urban management. Although construction work began in June, it was only in October that the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council issued a stop-work order, apparently after complaints by the neighbour. Even then, it was reported that work continued.

Petaling Jaya, which will be declared a city soon, deserves better management.

Making the news more sensational, it was wrongly reported that the owner of the RM300,000 house could be fined up to RM6 million, being 10 times the costs of the renovation. A subsequent report clarified that the fine would be 10 times the building plan fee, which was stated to be RM300. It is no wonder that Malaysians have contempt for development control regulations.

The renovation was massive, involving an additional storey. The four bedroom double-storey building at the end of a row of houses was reportedly being turned into a six-bedroom three-storey building.

Massive renovations and extensions are common. In most cases, they cause problems to the neighbours, not only during construction stage, but also when they are completed.

There have been complaints by semi-detached building owners that their houses looked  like lean-tos as a result of massive extensions of neighbouring properties.

They also contribute to deterioration of the ambience of neighbourhoods. Pleasant uniform facades are destroyed by garish colours and obtrusive and incompatible extensions. They make nonsense of spending millions in town planning or requiring developers to hire professionals to prepare layout plans and building plans and for the local authorities to take months, if not years, to process them.

Ideally, house owners should refrain from massive renovations and extensions, especially if they affect streetscapes or cause problems to the neighbours. But this is not likely to happen soon.

Malaysians seem to like the feeling that their houses are bigger and more extravagant than their neighbours'. Social scientists call this "conspicuous consumptions". Locals call it "kiasu" (fear of losing) mentality.

This means local councils have to take their responsibilities more seriously.

Building owners who want to add a storey or have extensions that are more than 50% of the existing floor space have to obtain a planning permission. Otherwise, they can be fined up to RM500,000 and ordered to demolish the extensions. Non-compliance with court-ordered demolition could be fined RM1,000 on a daily basis.

Building owners need a building permit even if renovations are not massive. Building without a permit can result in the demolition of the illegal structures. The owners could also be taken to court and be fined. In fact, even after illegal renovations have been demolished, the owners could still be prosecuted as an offence has been committed.

Most, if not all, local councils, however, have adopted the practice that if illegal renovations do not breach building standards according to the Uniform Building By-laws, the owners are only required to submit building plans to rectify what has been built with just a payment of 10 times the plan fees.

Today is World Town Planning Day. It is pointless, indeed a waste of time and resources, to repeat the lofty ideals of town planning if property owners are allowed to change the ambience of neighbourhoods with impunity.

The councils must be more vigilant against illegal renovations and extensions. While the procedures
for obtaining planning and building permits could be made simpler and faster, cases of non-compliance must be swiftly, fairly and firmly dealt with.

They must not wait for affected neighbours to make a report before action is taken. By then, damage has been done to them, if not the neighbourhood as a whole. Besides, it is not good to have a society in which neighbours complain against neighbours.

There should be accountability for any failure to enforce planning and building laws. There is a need to correct the perception that illegal renovations and extensions, even if detected, could be overlooked by bribing municipal officers to turn a blind eye or having politicians to ensure that they do so. Corrupt officers and politicians who interfere should be reported to the Anti Corruption Agency.

Dr Goh Ban Lee can be contacted at gohbanlee@yahoo.com