Condo project yet to take off after many years
06/05/2008 The Star By Christina Low

THEY have invested their hard-earned savings as downpayments for their dream homes, but after many years, all that the more than 60 distressed and depressed apartment buyers can see is an empty piece of idle land.

They are the buyers of apartment units of the four-block Casa Gemilang condominium project comprising 380 units in Taman Midah in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai visited the site on Sunday morning and found only several containers fixed with air conditioners, apparently used as site offices.

Lorries were seen moving in and out of the construction area but no work seemed to be going on.

Still waiting: Tan (second from right) talking to buyers of the Casa Gemilang apartments in front of the cordoned-off area in Taman Midah, Cheras.

“The company has cordoned off the area, which looks like a construction site, but nothing seems to be going on there. No piling work has been done,” Tan said.

The condominium units cost from RM148,000 to RM223,000 each. All the buyers had paid their 10% downpayment upon signing the sale and purchase (S&P) agreement.

According to Tan, the buyers had given up hope that the project would take off and had decided to take legal action to recover their losses.

Tan said in August last year, the developer, Jeram Permata (Cheras) Sdn Bhd, had admitted to the buyers that it was unable to carry out the project but did not give the reason.

He said the developer, however, did not mention refunding the 10% downpayment paid by the buyers.

“The buyers just want their down payments refunded.

“They are not even asking the company to pay for the legal fees for the S&P agreements,” Tan said.

He said he hoped to meet the developer next week.

he added that he would also ask the Housing Ministry to cancel the developer’s licence and blacklist it.

Next to the apartment project is a RM340mil rehabilitation hospital project under the Health Ministry.

Except for a small corner used for the Cheras Health Clinic, the hospital project has been abandoned and left idle for more than 15 years.

However, earthworks and tree felling at the hospital project site started about three months ago.

Tan said he had received numerous complaints from the residents, who were worried about damage to the environment due to the tree-felling activities.

He said it was discovered that the contractor did not even have a development order.

On April 30, a StarMetro report, “City Hall puts a stop to rape of the environs”, said that a stop-work order was issued by the Kuala Lumput City Hall (DBKL) on April 28 along with a compound of RM50,000 under Section 70A of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974.

The order came after the DBKL found that land-clearing works, including earthworks and tree felling, had been carried out by the contractor of Konsortium Gadang Perembun without approval from the local authority.

Hardly a week after the report appeared, work resumed at the site.

“Our service centre has received many calls from the residents, asking if the report they read was true, because they had spotted trucks moving in and out again,” Tan said.

Tan said he was still trying to contact the Public Works Department officer in charge for an explanation.

He urged the DBKL to continue monitoring such sites strictly to ensure that no foul play was involved.