JOHOR BARU: After six years of anxious waiting Taman Indera Wangsa house buyers are heaving a sigh of relief as the abandoned housing project in Larkin is going to be revived. 

The medium-cost housing project, which was scheduled for completion in 2003, had caused financial difficulties for many of the 800 buyers. 

Zaidi Hassan, 34, who signed up for his house in 2000, had planned to move in after his marriage. 

A father of two now, Zaidi's family has been living in a rented house in Taman Tampoi Indah. 

From left, Albert Arokiam, 43, and his wife Halan Arumainathan, 39 talking to one of the Mahabuilders crew at the briefing. Halan, an accountant from Singapore, paid RM10,000 deposit in 2000, and another RM8,000 as a second payment.

“I’m tied up financially. I have no choice but to continue paying the bank even though the project got delayed,” he said, adding that he was in danger of being declared bankrupt if he refused to pay.  

“At least now I can get on with my life, and hopefully the project will be completed as promised,” said Zaidi. 

Another purchaser Chio Poh Sen, 66, had to fork out RM3,000 for legal fees and insurance apart from the 10% deposit. 

The retired carpenter has also been paying interest on his loan the past five years.  

looking at his bank statements. He has been paying interest to his bank for the past five years.

“My life savings went into purchasing the house,” said Chio who iscurrently renting a house in Desa Cemerlang.  

Mahabuilders Sdn Bhd, a medium-sized housing developer, has promised the buyers that they will see to the completion of the housing project.  

“The flats will be ready in 24 months time,” said Mahabuilder's general manager Abdullah Yusup, in a briefing for the buyers recently.  

He also promised pur-chasers they would not have to pay anything extra apart from the remaining cost of their house.  

Mahabuilders has built a good reputation for reviving abandoned projects. 

Its completed projects include Skudai Ville, Senai Industrial Park, Taman Mekar Idaman, Renggam Jaya and Taman Baiduri in Johor.  

“At the moment, we are the only developer in Johor Baru willing enough to take over these abandoned projects left idle by bankrupt developers,” Abdullah added.  

Mahabuilders group accountant Vincent Wong So-on Choy added that they were committed to helping the buyers by taking over the abandoned project and seeing to its completion.  

“A lot of these buyers fell into a financial crisis after they put their hard-earned money into this housing project,” he said. 

He added that the revival would help buyers breathe a little easier knowing that their money has not gone down the drain.  

L. Parthiban, a lawyer involved in the project revival, said the buyers were lucky as there were numerous cases in the outskirts of town where there was no hope for the buyers.