Council to look into CF plight

30/10/1999 The Star

Penang Municipal Council president Dr Teng Hock Nan has assured 167 flat buyers of Taman Indah Phase II in Batu Maung that their plight will be looked into.

Dr Teng said yesterday the council would study the details of the case before assisting buyers in getting clearance for Certificate of Fitness from the state Housing Department.

"We are waiting for the developer to furnish us with the information before checking the details. As this is a low-cost project, clearance is needed from the state Housing Department. We will try our best to assist the buyers," he said when contacted yesterday.

Dr Teng was asked to comment on the plight of 167 buyers, who are still waiting to move into their low-cost flats despite having received their keys two years ago.

Penang MCA Public Complaints Bureau chief Ooi Chuan Aik had said on Thursday that the authorities had declined to issue the Certificate of Fitness (CF) to the project because the buyers were not from the state Housing Department's low-cost housing list.

Ooi had said that the buyers should not be penalised through no fault of theirs, adding that the flats were now in a state of neglect.

Dr Teng said representatives of developer Kumpulan Udara Indah Sdn Bhd met him at the council's YDP committee meeting on Thursday.

"Normally, developers are required to develop low-cost housing projects after carrying out medium or high-cost projects.

"In such cases, allocation of the low-cost units will have to go through the state Housing Department," he said.

The Taman Indah Phase II project, comprising two blocks of five-storey walk up flats, are priced at RM25,000 each. The units, which were completed two years ago, are currently in a bad shape with many window panes smashed, doors broken down and paint peeling off.