Housebuyers act to revive stalled project

17/04/2001 The Star  By  Choong Kwee Kim

Purchasers of units at the stalled Majestic Heights project are executing plans to salvage the project themselves and are not banking on the rescue by a new 'white knight' developer.

Majestic Heights purchasers ad-hoc committee Phase 1 chairman Lim Beng Hong said the new developer was holding the state government to ransom with the condition it imposed to salvage the project.

The condition was approval for the developer to build another 7,000 low-medium cost units on the remaining 24ha land as a trade off for reviving the stalled project.

"The developer knows that our problem is critical and a fast solution is needed yet it is capitalising on our situation by holding the state to ransom with its request.

"We have told the state government not to give in as we are concerned of further congestion if another 7,000 units were to be built or at worst, if it follows the same fate as our project,'' said Lim.

He said Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had called for a closed door briefing of the state high-powered committee to all four purchasers' committees representing 3,025 buyers of Phase 1, 2A, 2B and 3A, on Tuesday to explain the state's dilemma in solving the problem.

Dr Koh had been reported as saying in January that the government had not rejected the developer's proposal and was studying whether its development request on a steep slope was technically feasible.

Lim said: "We don't have much time and have no more patience for the state government's answer.

"We will be writing letters to the Housing and Local Government Ministry and Bank Negara with a view to salvage the project ourselves.''

He said the ministry was urged to invoke Section 11 of the Housing Developers Act 1966 to enable purchasers to revive the 80% completed projects on their own.

Lim said it would cost each buyer an estimated RM10,000 more and 48 banks had agreed in principle during a meeting in September, to extend the additional loan to each buyer for the revival plan.

Lim said they had also asked Bank Negara to grant an across the board moratorium on buyers' monthly loan repayment until the project obtained the Certificate of Fitness.

Meanwhile, he said they were still waiting for the hearing of the winding-up petition filed by buyers of Phase 1 against Majestic Heights Sdn Bhd which had been postponed from Feb 5 to June 11.

In their petition, they also sought for Liquidated Ascertained Damage (LAD) from Majestic Heights for late delivery of vacant possession.

Lim said a forum with purchasers of all phases will be held on May 27 at 2pm at Komtar Geodesic Dome to register and get everyone's full support and participation in their revival plan.

Phase 1 (comprising 1,557 units) and Phase 2A (342 units) should have been completed in 1997, Phase 3A (558 units) in the middle of last year and Phase 2B (568 units) in March this year.