Give developers time to apply for strata titles

NST-CITY  27/07/2001 By Bhavani Krishna Iyer

APARTMENT and condominium owners have been advised to give developers sufficient time to apply for, and obtain, strata titles. Land and Co-operative Development Deputy Minister Dr Tan Kee Kwong said the developer could only start applying six months after being given the full certificate of fitness, and that if everything was in order, the strata titles could be processed in about a year. He said there had been cases where anxious buyers had imposed unreasonable deadlines that developers obtain the strata titles and give it to them right after the CF had been issued. "This is a misconception among condominium and apartment owners.

The procedure to apply for the strata title is a tedious one, and has to be initiated by the developer," Dr Tan said. He urged the developers to get all the facts correct first before submitting the application. "The department handling the issuance of strata titles is under staffed and a small mistake could take months to be rectified." Dr Tan was speaking to reporters after visting the Villa Puteri Condominium in Jalan Tun Ismail (behind The Mall), in Kuala Lumpur. He urged all residents' associations of condominiums and apartments to start placing at least two representatives on the management corporation when it was formed after strata titles had been been issued. "This will be made mandatory soon and the Housing and Local Government Ministry is working out a by-law to allow for this," he said.

He said this would help dispel allegations from residents' associations against the management corporation, especially those involving the management of funds (including the sinking fund). He also mentioned that a Commisioner of Building would be appointed in every State who would report to the Housing Ministry and attend to all grouses pertaining to buildings.

Dr Tan toured Villa Puteri Condominium after receiving complaints that the lifts were not properly maintained. He urged the developer, Navista Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of Land and General Berhad), to sort out the problem soon. Dr Tan added that the developer would be submitting the application for strata titles by the end of this month. Also present was Land and General executive director Mohd Razeek Hussain who said that the private contractor who had been given then job of maintaining the lifts was having difficulty obtaining the original spare-parts. Mohd Razeek gave his assurance that the lifts would be repaired immediately. Mohd Razeek also said the faulty intercom facility in the lifts would be repaired by next month.