Liquidators given year-end deadline

12/04/2008 The Star By Steven Daniel

MALACCA: The state government has instructed liquidators of the Pulau Melaka reclamation project to complete work within 15 months.

State Housing, Rural Township Development and Revival of Abandoned Projects committee chairman Datuk Abd Ghafar Atan said the state was serious in pushing for the project’s completion following complaints by those who had purchased property there.

The Pulau Melaka twin island reclamation project was launched in 1996 and was to have become a prestigious landmark for Malacca following its scheduled completion by the end of 2000.

Work on the shoplots and apartment units there are scheduled for completion by the year-end.

However, after encountering several problems, including running up a total unpaid quit rent of RM 2.5mil, development stopped in 2004 resulting in complaints from 800 buyers who had purchased shoplots and apartments on the island.

Following liquidation, the project was revived with the state constructing the partially floating Selat Mosque on a parcel of reclaimed area allotted to the state.

Ghafar, who visited the site and met up with project representatives last Tuesday, said the partially completed buildings have become an eyesore.

“Just imagine the people who visit the beautiful Selat Mosque and get a view not only of the sea but row upon row of empty and unfinished shoplots,” he said.

Ghafar said among the complaints he heard during the meeting were theft of electrical wires and metal pipes from the unfinished buildings.

He warned that the state would not hesitate to take drastic action to ensure that the liquidators completed the project within the stipulated time.