Flat buyers left in the lurch

06/01/2008 NST By Malina Jeya Palan

Rosnah Ibrahim hopes the housing project will be completed soon

PETALING JAYA: More than 1,000 house buyers of an abandoned project in Shah Alam have been waiting for seven years to move into their new homes.

Yesterday, about 70 of them, mostly buyers of the low-cost Damai and Suria apartments voiced their frustration over the project at a press conference at the community centre in SS26 here.

Chairman of the Subang 2 Bandar Pinggiran Subang Buyers Action Group, Rosnah Ibrahim, said the developers had acted irresponsibly and the house buyers hoped that the project would be completed soon.

The project, which began in 2000, had been due for completion in 2003 but was abandoned shortly after construction work started.

Tong Soong Choong, the senior sales manager for the project's developer, Juta Permai Sdn Bhd, said the project was initially abandoned when the contractor failed to fulfil the contract due to financial constraints.

"We have appointed a new contractor who will take over the project," he said, adding that work on the project would resume after the Chinese New Year.

The project is expected to be completed within a year. The buyers, however, are sceptical.

"This has gone on for seven years. We've been given false promises but this time, we hope that the project will be completed. Otherwise, we will take further action," Rosnah said.