Putting it right

03/06/2006 NST-PROP By G. Umakanthan

We are all only too familiar with instances of abandoned housing projects, late delivery, specifications not met, failure to provide promised facilities or amenities and a litany of other grouses against developers.

How many Malaysians today have anything good to say about housing developers? Not many, it is believed, would stand up and give them the thumbs up.

So what is the industry doing about this?

The Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) itself has taken a strong stand on rogue developers, and strongly advises house buyers to verify claims and the track record of a developer before committing to a buy.

But in light of the complaints raised against developers by bodies such as the National House Buyers Association (HBA) - which even demanded that the Housing and Local Government Ministry face up to its duty of making public the list of rogue developers on its web- site - how is Rehda going to help developers keep their chin up, so to speak?

Says the association's immediate past president Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi, "Complaints against errant developers worry us. It is not fair to paint all developers black just because of a few.

"While we do want to see much fewer complaints, especially against members, we have realized that after all these years, we don't have any professional skills upgrading or structured programmer to update members about new Government polices, laws and regulations, or about industry trends locally or abroad ... ."

Concerned about these needs, and seeing a necessity to encourage higher work standards as we" as make the growing number of developers more socially conscious of their role and responsibilities, a number of Rehda veterans got together and tossed ideas about.

Among them were past president and patrons Oon Chong Eong of Jaya Housing Corp Sdn Bhd Datuk Tan Chin Nam (Tan & Tan Developments Bhd); Tan Sri Teo Soo Cheng (First Nationwide Land bank Sdn Bhd); Tan Sri Tunku Osman Ahmad (Ozzdong Sdn Bhd) and Chen himself.

Born from their discussions was the Rehda Institute in 2004.

Chen, who is the "trustee in charge of the Rehda Institute", said the others involved in the discussions were past presidents and patrons Lawrence Chan Kek Tong of Susun Jaya Sdn Bhd, Datuk Teo Chiang Kok (Bandar Utama Development Sdn Bhd) and Tiah Toh Twin (Integrated Development Sdn Bhd).

They are all members of the Board of Trustees of the Rehda Institute, which runs the affairs of the body from the association's headquarters in Kelana Jaya, Selangor.

A committee headed by Chen oversees the day-to-day running of the institute. The other members are Cheah Wing Choong of IGB Corp Bhd, N.K. Tong of Bukit Kiara Properties Sdn Bhd and Che King Tow of Simpangan Juta Sdn Bhd.

Explained Chen: "The Rehda Institute can best be described as Rehda's education and training arm.

"It was launched on July 12, 2004 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but it was only last year that we actually got down to work and carry out some programmers.

"Rehda has always supported and promoted advancements in land and property development in the country. As the industry moves towards maturity and the country heads for developed nation status, we have to promote higher calibre, quality industry players.

"This can only be done by pertinent educational and training initiatives. Today, this has become urgent. Rehda Institute will there- fore take a pragmatic, equitable, sustainable and holistic approach to achieving the highest standard of performance in the real estate and housing industry."

The institute will concentrate on providing training and educational programmers for developers as well as carry out research and development to add value to the industry and economy, Chen said.

Soon, renovations will be carried out to Rehda headquarters involving the addition of a conference room and seminar rooms.

The institute has so far con- ducted seminars in five areas: Legislation, regulations, policies and procedures; corporate and; financial issues; technical and infrastructure; property market data, analytical tolls and prospects; and marketing.

The programmers are run on a monthly basis, each conducted by eminent experts in the relevant fields, and while they cater to developers, Chen said where relevant, some of the programmers are open to other industry stakeholders as well.

Since September 2005, the institute has also conducted several educational programmers.

Some of the major training sessions have been a briefing on the National Physical Plan a seminar on asset management; a teach-in on taxation for property development companies. and a half-day session on guidelines for the application and renewal of developer licenses and Advertisement and Sale permits.

Other programmers have been a talk on business opportunities in India and China; a seminar on the International Financial Reporting Standards; and another on energy efficiency in buildings.

For this year, one of Chen's main tasks is to expand the institute's resource centre and develop an online database and search engine to allow access by members and the general public.

"I would also like to build up the intellectual resources of Rehda Institute through specific studies on issues of current relevance and build a regional information exchange centre with various fraternity organizations in the region taking part," he said.

Other activities planned for the institute are the compilation and analysis of the National Property Information Centre's, real estate information as well as findings from other sources such as the Malaysian Institute for Economic Research. The outcome will be disseminated to members.

"We also want to educate developers on their obligations and liabilities," said Chen.

"This includes letting them know what they should do to avoid accidents at worksites, and on the importance of ensuring that contractors are properly insured.

We also want to carry out consumer awareness seminars in a more structured manner, to apprise consumers on their rights; on how to tell a good developer from a bad one; how to read advertisements; about buyer rights in contract; and about loans and the types most suited to them."

"The long term goal is to keep the industry free of errant developers.

"We are in the midst of planning and launching these activities to educate developers on the best practices being adopted in the other parts of the world and how new technology has been adopted successfully.

"We are also able to provide advice to developers of good project concepts as well as current consumer trends in living styles."

Over time, he said Rehda Institute will develop into a "very complete resource centre" that will also be useful for students doing real estate related courses. This is so students can have clear insight about what is happening on the ground and not just the theory they get in college.

"We aim to become the source of continuous learning for the industry. The institute can be the harbinger of new and safer practices ... there will be no looking back and perhaps, in time, complaints against rogue developers will be a thing of the past," Chen added.