Archive for January, 2007

Webmaster menerima laporan berikut dari En Ghaffar mengenai kecurian di Blok Chengal:

2 hari lepas saya menerima aduan dari seorang penduduk di Blk Chengal mengatakan bahawa beliau kehilangan set kerusi dan meja yang diletakkan di koridor rumah beliau. (set yg kecil aje) beliau meletakkan set tersebut yang sudah agak lusuh dikoridor kerana tinggal di end lot (dekat tepi tangga) jadi tidak menghalang ruang koridor sekiranya berlaku kecemasan.

Set kerusi ini telah berada selama lebih kurang 8 bulan disitu tetapi baru 2 hari lepas ianya telah hilang. Beliau menyedari kehilangan tersebut pada pagi Isnin ketika hendak keluar bekerja. Pada waktu malam sebelumnya set kerusi ini masih berada dikoridor kira-kira jam 10 malam. Beliau dapat aduan dari jiran tetangga bahawa mereka juga kehilangan kasut yang diletakkan dihadapan pintu (dalam kawasan grill).

Apa yang ingin dikongsi disini adalah pencuri di Tmn Desaminium ini masih wujud. Semua penduduk haruslah berhati-hati dan jangan meletakkan barang berharga diluar rumah, agar kejadian seumpama ini dapat dielakkan.

Webmaster had been informed that a Yahoo Group called Desaminium Owners Club had been setup. According to Thomas, who had contacted Webmaster via email:

all registerd members will be allowed to post articles, suggestions, ideas and will be also updated on the latest issues happening in our neighbourhood

Those interested can check it out at the following URL:

http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/desaminiumowners/

Do take note however, that the Desaminium Owners Club is an independent group not directly associated with PTTD.

By K.W. MAK

STRATA titles are important because they grant ownership to individual purchasers, who are not recognised as owners by the Land Office until the titles are issued.

This loophole is worrisome, for should a developer ever go bankrupt, the property’s ownership could be transferred to a fresh developer’s company with a new set of requirements requiring purchasers to pay extra costs or even have the property taken away in default.

Since the issue of ownership is not addressed specifically in any of the Acts, it would be a costly court battle for owners to prove otherwise.

By right, the developer is supposed to apply for strata titles within six months of receiving certificates of fitness.

Section 20(1) of the Strata Title Act states this while Section 20(1a) allows for an extension of a further three months.

Failure to comply with this is covered by Section 22A of the Act, where the developer is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 and a further fine not exceeding RM1,000 for each day the offence continues.

In Penang, the Auditor General pointed out that the Land Office only prosecuted 13 developers for failing to submit the applications, despite sending 144 reminders. (The Star, Oct 7).

The reason for the lack of prosecution given by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Abdul Rashid Abdullah was that the Land Office only prepares the cases for prosecution to be undertaken by the State Legal advisor, but it was not mentioned how many cases the Land Office had prepared to be acted upon nor was it stated if any of the developers were fined for failing to comply with the Act.

The Housing and Local Government Ministry will be tabling some amendments to the Act to address the concerns of ownership soon.

The Condominium, Appart-ment and High-rise Committee (CAHC), however, asks if the amendments would truly address the issue because strata titles are supposed to be legal documents that spell out ownership.

“While we applaud the amendments, there are some grey areas that need to be clarified,” said CAHC pro tem chairman Tengku Nazaruddin Zainuddin.

“The question involves the delivery system, compliance by the developers and, of course, enforcement.

“There seems to be no enforcement and developers are taking advantage of this. One can amend the Act yearly but if the delivery system, compliance and enforcement are absent, it does not change anything,” said Nazaruddin.

CAHC currently has more than 40 condominium and apartment residents associations under its wing and has managed to solve several issues involving members.

Currently, CAHC is working on problems faced by members ranging from harassment of vocal condominium owners to unexplained rate hikes by management corporations.

Nazaruddin said the committee is working hard to fight for the rights of condominium dwellers using the law, following procedures and documenting the process.

The efforts have yielded results, but Nazaruddin said the government should be the one taking responsibility for the problems caused by a lack of enforcement.

The committee was formed under the All PJ Pro Action Committee (APPAC) banner and consists of members from the APPAC group.

Residents who would like to get in touch with CAHC can call Tengku Nazaruddin at 012-284 9146, Chong Cheng Lai at 012-230 3639, Khong Chee Seng at 017-878 2881 and Koh Kheng Hoon at 03-7880 3084.

Failed Solutions

The Selangor Land and Mines Office tried to fix the problem of management corporations (MC) by coming up with a Pre MC solution where developers and owners form the MC prior to the issuance of strata titles in early 2005.

Koh…‘There is little we can do.’
The initiative was meant to allow residsents to learn the finer points of running a condominium while preparing them to take over management when the strata titles are issued.

Many developers do not support this and a government officer’s reply to the Kelana D’ Putera Residents Association when they tried to set up a Pre-MC was that the developers cannot be forced to agree.

“There is little we can do because the developer refused to endorse it and we have a useless piece of paper,” said Kelana D’ Putera Residents Association president Francis Koh.

Afer trying for the past seven years to get their strata titles, the Kelana D’ Putera RA was promised its titles at a meeting on Dec 9, 2005.

Selangor housing and property board executive director Alinah Ahmad chaired the meeting, with Land and Mines Office strata and development policy management committee director Dr Azimuddin Bahari and officers from related departments present.

The promise that strata titles would be issued to residents in June 2006 remains unfulfilled.

Follow up attempts by the association went unanswered until recently, with a meeting scheduled for today.

“We don’t know what else to do when the government is either ineffective or unable to process the strata titles for residents,” said Koh.

Source [The Star]

Condominiums are a statement of luxury, but behind the facade, residents complain of the lack of services from their management companies (MCs) while MCs complain that the residents who refuse to pay management fees are the ones preventing such services from being provided.

This “chicken and egg” scenario is causing a lot of dissent among condominium property owners, so much so that a group of such affected owners decided to form the Condominium, Apartment and High-rise Committee (CAHC) to champion the rights of condominium owners.

There are no quick fixes to the problems, however, as residents who got together to fight their issues discover numerous hurdles and obstacles before them.

“There is a lack of transparency in the way things are done presently and residents are tired of being taken for a ride,” said CAHC pro tem chairman Tengku Nazaruddin Zainuddin.

Arguments between residents and MCs are often the result of money matters. Residents are already paying a premium on their service charges and when such services are not up to expectations, complaints would ensue.

Most MCs do not make the matter any easier to resolve because they do not allow the management accounts and the sinking fund accounts to be viewed, citing excuses that the accounts could not be shown.

“Don’t let them cheat you. Withholding such accounts from residents is a violation of the Housing and Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 that many MCs and condominium owners themselves are not aware of,” said CAHC pro tem assistant chairman Khong Chee Seng.

Section 19 of the Act states that the developer shall provide the purchaser with a copy of the Annual Audited Accounts for the expenses incurred for the provision of the said services.

Section 20 (sub-clauses 3 and 4) meanwhile provides for the Sinking Fund accounts to be made available to the purchaser.

CAHC through the residents associations has used this Act to apply for the accounts from two MCs of condominiums located in Petaling Jaya and Klang. However, they have yet to provide a copy to owners.

Part of the reason MCs do not want to disclose their accounts is the fact that some of them charge management fees illegally.

Prior to the acquisition of the strata title, the developer is either supposed to manage the condominium or outsource the management to another person or corporation.

“Any person who undertakes property management practice is required by law to register with the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents,” said Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents registrar R. Mahaletchumi in reply to a query on management fee charges.

“Nevertheless, if the condominium concerned has not been issued with strata titles, then the developer may manage the condo himself, provided he does not charge property management fees.”

The right to charge such fees lies with those registered with the Board, as stated in Section 21 of the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act 1981.

Developers who outsource the management to a third party must ensure that the person or company is registered with the Board.

Tomorrow: Read the second part on the problem faced by condominium and apartment owners in obtaining strata titles.

Source [The Star]

Condominium, Apartment and High-rise Committee (CAHC) pro tem assistant chairman Khong Chee Seng said there are many stories of management committees (MCs) using strong-armed tactics to bully residents into paying up the management fees.

One of the tactics employed is the clamping of water meters – a penalty which some MCs have included in the in-house rules and regulations for not paying management fees.

What many MCs do not take into account, however, is that Section 35 of the Strata Title Act 1985 specifically states that condo residents have the right to support, service and shelter, which includes access to water, and that any attempt to clamp water meters is in violation of the Act.

CAHC is trying to get around this deadlock by getting the Selangor state government to legislate a law forcing MCs to hand over the water meters to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas).

Syabas is willing to let condominium dwellers pay domestic rates, but they must first control the meters, and they cannot take control of it presently due to the ambiguity in the law on water meters governing joint-ownership properties like condominiums.

Syabas has already submitted the proposal to the state government and it would take some three months for the state government to implement, if it agrees to such a suggestion.

Other tactics include lawyers’ letters with threats of lawsuits.

Khong himself has been slapped with several lawsuits amounting to RM5mil for fighting on behalf of condominium residents.

But residents are not the only victims here. Bungah Raya Management Corporation secretary Somasundaram Venkates-waran said from his experience, MCs use water clamping to enforce payment of arrears by defaulters.

“Though this is certainly not a fair thing to do (access to drinking water is a basic human right), it has been found to be a practical, cost-effective and quick recovery method,” said Venkateswaran.

“Legal recovery procedures are expensive and time-consuming. MCs may have to wait a long time to obtain judgment from our courts, all the more so with our appellate courts system.

“In the meantime, core services including corridor and car park lighting and lift operations have to be disrupted or even stopped altogether due to the lack of collections from owners. This will obviously anger owners who are good paymasters who may also stop payment until services are restored. It is a ‘chicken and egg’ situation.”

Source [The Star]

Beberapa video di sekitar Hari Raya Korban di Surau Raudhatul Ilmi untuk tatapan anda.