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Housebuyers banking on DPM as 'last hope'
13/10/1999 The Star
By A.R.Amiruddin
Sixty-one people who bought houses at Taman Cahaya in Teluk
Kumbar only to see them abandoned for the past 20 years, have exhausted all
avenues for a solution to their problems.
This is because they have been given the run-around by government officials.
Desperate to resolve the problems over the houses they bought in 1986, they
will again seek the help of the Deputy Prime Minister, "their last straw of
hope."
The developer, Shaukat Realities Sdn Bhd, had completed 70% of the double-storey
houses in Gertak Sanggul but the project has been abandoned for the past 20
years.
Housebuyers committee secretary K. Subramaniam @ Jeorge said their only hope
now was to seek the help of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi again to "get things
moving."
Abdullah had directed the relevant authorities to look into the matter after
Jeorge had written to him on June 2.
Penang's official assignee N. Dharmasegaran had said that the matter was beyond
his control.
However, official assignee Jalaldin Hussain, based in Kuala Lumpur, could not
be contacted the past two months. When contacted again yesterday, The Star was
informed he had gone to Sabah and will be back on Saturday.
His assistant, Balkis Ani, said she could not give any statement offhand and
suggested that the matter be referred to the head of the liquidation division
Haji Ahmad Sharifuddin, who also could not be contacted despite several calls.
The housebuyers, who have become desperate, had earlier decided to complete
the abandoned house themselves but dropped the idea for fear of running foul
of the law.
Some of the purchasers who bought the houses in 1986 have died. The place is
now overgrown with lallang and trees have taken root inside the buildings.
Jeorge called on the Penang Government to salvage the project and help relieve
the burden of the purchasers.
Jeorge hoped that the state would not turn a blind eye to their plight, adding
that a solution should be found to uphold the Malaysia Boleh slogan.
"We are proud of our slogan Malaysia Boleh. As such, there should not be any
barrier towards resolving our long-standing plight," he said.
The abandoned project has meanwhile become an eyesore and a breeding ground
for mosquitoes and a host of other pests.
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