RESIDENTS of Sri Gotong Apartment in Batu Caves, yesterday held a peaceful protest to express their disappointment with Benih Murni Sdn Bhd, the developer of the apartment.

Sri Gotong Apartment Residents’ Association secretary Rajandran Batumalai said the developer had illegally amended the building plan.

“The certificate of fitness which we obtained on Aug 25, 2005, was for the 448 units in the original plan,” he said.

“But the developer had built 16 studio apartments on the fifth floor, space which was meant for recreation.

Rajandran, also said that the developer had built a pub on the fifth floor.

“We want the developer to compensate us for the changes made without our consent. We feel short-changed,” he said.

The developer also allegedly introduced an access card on Dec 1, forcing residents to pay RM40 a month for parking.

“How can they do this when they promised to provide one free parking lot for each unit before we signed the sales and purchase agreement?” asked Kamalakanan Muthusamy, the association’s president.

Kamalakanan said they had brought up the matter during its meeting with the owner of Benih Murni, Khoh Siew Kim, and the Selangor Government in May.

“The Housing and Properties Board was required to give their views before a decision was made. However, the developer jumped the gun,” said Kamalakanan.

Other issues raised during the meeting included the developer’s failure to apply for a strata title, irregular rubbish collection and frequent theft due to lack of security, cracks in the building and irregular cleaning of the swimming pool.

The residents claimed they wanted to meet Khoh, who is also a Klang Municipal Councillor, and discuss the issues but the latter refused to see them.

“We have no choice but to highlight the matter to the Press,” said Rajandran.

“We give Khoh 14 days to settle our problems, failing which we will meet the Menteri Besar.

“If that too fails, we will send a memorandum to the Prime Minister.”

The association also plans to lodge a complaint against Khoh with the Anti-Corruption Agency.

Khoh could not be reached for comments