| Ten
long, painful years of wait for Taman Lingkuran Nur housebuyers
21/12/1999 NST
Kajang, Mon. - Housebuyers of the
abandoned Taman Lingkuran Nur housing scheme near here have been waiting for
10 years and there seems to be no solutions in sight for them.
The wait has been painful and their plight has been largely ignored despite
countless pleas to the developer, Saktimuna Sdn Bhd, to resolve the situation.
The project, which consists of low-cost and medium-cost houses, began in
1989. It was due to have been completed in two years. At present, the houses
are between 10 and 60 per cent complete.
Construction of Phase One stopped in 1992.
The failure has resulted in buyers having to rent other houses, thus bearing
an extra burden. Those who had taken loans had to start repaying them.
Taman Lingkuran Nur housing project action committee secretary Mohd Norman
Abdul Hadi said the buyers were now at their wit's end.
Their appeals to the Housing and Local Government Ministry have been in vain
as the Ministry claimed it did not have the power to act on the matter.
"We have even sent letters to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
and his deputy Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi seeking intervention. The Deputy
Prime Minister referred the case to the Ministry," he added.
This resulted in numerous meetings with them this year. The developer was
present at only one of the meetings. The buyers voiced their dissatisfaction
and unanimously rejected the developer," he added.
Mohd Norman also said the buyers had appealed to the Ministry to hand over
the project to them so they would be able to complete it on their own.
He added that the then Housing and Local Government Deputy Minister Datuk
Mohd Shafie Apdal had promised to settle the matter, but nothing had been done.
"I am disappointed at the Ministry's failure to resolve the matter. It is
a terrible situation.
Over the years, six of the buyers have passed away while marriages have broken
due to financial difficulties," he said.
They now look forward to fresh action from new Housing and Local Government
Minister Datuk Ong Ka Ting.
Chairman of the housing project action committee Mohd Nor Mohd Amin said
the 305 buyers of Phase One were at a loss as to what to do next.
"Our appeals to the developer have fallen on deaf ears. Although they say
they have financial problems, it is irresponsible of them to leave us in the
lurch like this," he said.
"How long will this go on? I rely on a RM600 pension a month and support
the family with odd jobs. I have to sell my car to pay for a house that is not
complete," he added.
Meanwhile, Ong said recently that abandoned projects would be looked into
on a case-by-case basis.
The 305 buyers are hoping that they will not have to wait too long for him
to get to their case.
Meanwhile, a Selangor State secretariat official said the Taman Lingkuran
Nur project was referred to it recently following an application by Saktimuna
to begin construction of Phase Two.
The secretariat has undertaken the project based on humanitarian ground.
He said it would try its best to solve the problem.
Efforts to contact Saktimuna has been futile. A visit to their office in
Wangsa Melawaiti revealed that they have shifted from the premises.
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