|
Legalama
27/05/2006 NST-PROP By Andrew Wong
Rules would be quite unnecessary if we are all considerate, God-fearing
people who know our purpose in life. Unfortunately, we're not and we don't,
and in fact spend so much effort trying to find loopholes and ways around
laws that the books containing our legislation are getting fatter with
amendments by the year.
Having said that, though, it must be pointed out that although laws are
meant to protect and regulate by showing boundaries of acceptance, they
shouldn't impede aspirations, especially if those aspirations are virtuous.
Let's stand back and mull over this for a while… Of course, in the case of a
drug pusher whose only desire in life is the accumulation of wealth at the
expense of hurting his fellow man and causing social decay, this doesn't
hold true. But when it comes to people who desire to live a certain kind of
lifestyle but cannot do so simply because of some archaic - and thus
outdated - law, then it's time for something to happen.
In the real estate context, laws have, to a large degree, guided the way
properties have been built and consumed as well as helped to protect the
innocent man from devious developers. But these same laws are also stunting
growth by not permitting ideas that can advance our quality of life. One of
which is the development of gated-and-guarded residential schemes.
As assistant editor P. Rajan reveals in the lead story on the opposite page,
"many new concepts and innovations in housing development that can provide
Malaysians with a better quality living environment cannot be introduced
because the country's housing development law has failed to keep up with the
times".
In the case of gated schemes, Rajan quoting industry watchers said the lack
of legislation covering them reflects the tardiness of the Government,
especially since such projects have been around for many years and since
there have been many calls to have them made a part of the legal development
framework.
As it stands now, because gated-and-guarded schemes contain shared communal
services and facilities requiring the payment of fees by owners for their
sustained maintenance, many developers have developed them under the ambit
of the Strata Titles Act. However, this piece of legislation in its current
form is not able to issue horizontal strata titles for terrace houses,
semi-detached units and bungalows. Thus, as Kumar Tharmalingam,
secretary-general of the International Real Estate Federation (Fiabci)
Asia-Pacific Regional Secretariat pointed out to Rajan, such schemes are
"operating illegally".
As an interim solution, many projects are now governed by contracts entered
into between the developer and buyers, with the terms spelt out in the Sale
and Purchase Agreements as well as in separate Deeds of Mutual Covenants.
But is there anything wrong with amending the law to incorporate and
validate the existence of gated schemes, especially since buyers desire them
and developers are willing to provide them?
The Government's lack of action seems to say one thing. However, its hand
signals - it's promise that amendments allowing their inclusion into the
Strata Titles Act would be brought to the current sitting of Parliament, but
later postponing it so "additional issues can be included" say otherwise.
Minister for Natural Resources and Environment Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid is
also believed to have asked developers to show how gated communities
operate in countries that practise our system of land administration - such
as Singapore and Hong Kong - presumably to give the Government an inkling of
what to do.
So there is hope gated schemes will one day be clearly defined under a
finite law. But this really isn't the point. Today, it might be gated
schemes; tomorrow something else.
Until we have overseers with the foresight and proactive energy to identify
and respond quickly to trends and changes, we'll constantly have obstacles
blocking our aspirations. We'll constantly have to cope with people who can
only point in the direction of past laws when asked whether innovation is
permitted.
That's not necessarily saying gated schemes are good in the long term.
Indeed, until the Government commissions a full-scale, in-depth Social
Impact Assessment Report on them to find out whether they will be a boon or
bane to national efforts such as racial integration, the answer might never
be known. Until it's too late.
So the point is, the powers-that-be and lawmakers have to acknowledge the
fact that in this 21st century, trends and desires are evolving rapidly and
thus, actions have to be proactively and swiftly taken to analyse their
impact. If necessary, that might mean promptly modifying laws to embrace the
progress.
If we don't want to be dragged down by the past, we have to recognise that
this is the order of law.
|
