Show us the money, cry claimants
31/10/2006 NST Sonia Ramachandran

SHAH ALAM: They may have been awarded by the tribunal, but it has led to more headaches and frustration for them.

This comes from the non-compliance of awards, be they from the Consumer Claims Tribunal or the Homebuyer Claims Tribunal.

And the victims are pointing the finger at enforcement.

As one such victim, Raja Mohan Thambiduray, said, "Some of us had borrowed and sold our assets to get this money that we had lost, only to realise that when we were awarded by the tribunal, it was of no use."

Raja is the parent of one of 38 students who had brought their action to the Consumer Claims Tribunal against the Youth and Sports Experimental Aircraft Association (YSEAA) and its president Datuk Suresh Shannon for misleading them on the assembly and flying courses offered.

On May 4, the tribunal ruled that YSEAA’s transactions were null and void from the beginning and ordered Shannon to refund the students the amounts they had paid. It added up to a total of more than RM680,000.

But that wasn’t the end of the matter. Two weeks later, none of the students had received their money.

Raja submitted all 38 documents to the tribunal in Shah Alam, which in turn notified the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry enforcement division in Putrajaya.

He received a letter informing him that the matter was now with the enforcement division, but upon calling, was told that the officer whose name was on the letter had been transferred, and his case was now with another officer in Shah Alam.

"I called the officer in Shah Alam not less than 50 times, and at first he told me he had only two of the documents with him. He later said he had only my document with him and could not process it till he had all 38.

"I told him that was impossible as I had submitted the documents to the tribunal by hand," said Raja.

When he called last month, Raja was told the case had been transferred to another person who said she had received all 38 documents on Aug 13.

"That was three months after I received my award. When I called again, I was told the case had been transferred back to the original officer.

"We just keep getting the runaround. We had taken the matter to the tribunal instead of the court to expedite it and by doing so some of us lost money as the tribunal’s jurisdiction is only RM25,000, and some of us had paid more than that," said a frustrated Raja, who puts the blame squarely on the lack of enforcement by the enforcement division.

In his most recent phone call to the division, he was told that action could not be taken because the respondent refused to acknowledge the copy of the award when it was posted by the tribunal.

"That is ridiculous, especially since the respondent was present when the award was given."

Muhamad Nizam Senin’s grouse is against the Homebuyer Claims Tribunal.

Nizam is one of 450 owners of units in Daisy Apartments in Taman Subang Perdana, Shah Alam who have yet to get their late delivery payments.

Nizam, who is Daisy Apartment’s action committee head, said they were supposed to move into the apartments in 2000 but only received vacant possession in 2003.

They then filed action at the Homebuyers Claims Tribunal in 2004 for late delivery damages and were awarded between RM15,000 and RM25,000 each.

When the developer Westcourt Corporation Sdn Bhd failed to pay up within 14 days, they referred the matter to the Housing and Local Government Ministry’s enforcement division. However, they have yet to see their money.

The matter has already been brought up to the magistrate’s court but has yet to be finalised.

"I blame the enforcement division. They should at least send the developer to jail or wind them up. When you ask them, all they can say is the developer asked for a postponement of the matter."