61 housing projects stalled in Selangor

27/03/2006 The Malay Mail

SHAH ALAM: Banks have already issued them with letters of demand for loans they took but the houses they have paid for, are still incomplete.

At the same time, the two buyers in the Port Villa housing project in Klang have to pay the rent for the houses they now occupy.

Their problem was revealed by Selangor Housing and Real Estate Board executive director Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad during an interview.

She said Port Villa was among 61 housing projects in the State that had stalled and became mosquito-breeding rounds and havens for drug addicts.

The Port Villa developer is Perkasa Indera Sdn Bhd and when it was discontinued four years ago, only one per cent of the structure had been built. Now, scrubs and bushes can been seen all over the site.

Alinah said the developer had not given any strong reason why the project had been discontinued, nor had it been wound up.

However, there had been several misrepresentations by the developer about the project like a claim that the Klang Municipal Council had approved of it, she said.

She said the Selangor Government was concerned over the fate faced by the buyers whose houses had not been completed.

About 18,000 house buyers had become victims of the 61 stalled projects, 23 of those had been discontinued for more than 10 years, “she said.

"There are no signs from the developers of their intention to restart the projects," she said.

Besides the 61 housing projects, there were 22 commercial, two industrial and six village expansion projects that had also stalled in Selangor, she said.

Alinah said the Selangor Housing and Real Estate Board had outlined several ways to help the house buyers.

Among them are to bring the developers to court have private liquidators be appointed to takeover the projects, ask Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) to continue with the projects and find 'white knights' to save them.

Alinah said the board would engage lawyers to take the developers to court on behalf of the buyers where there were strong grounds for it like if the projects had stalled for over 10 years.

She also urged SPNB to be more active in rehabilitating stalled projects.

Among the projects that had been restored by SPNB in the State are Bandar Pinggiran Subang, Taman Desaria Petaling, Taman Kantan Permai Kajang, Taman Lingkaran Nur Kajang and Lembah Beringin.

The board has also outlined measures to be taken to avoid housing projects from being discontinued.

Among them are for the project consultants to register themselves with the board and submit their work schedule to enable the board and local authorities to monitor the progress of the projects.

Banks should also check the status of the project before approving the bridging loan or end financing, Alinah said - Bernama