Bill on high-rise maintenance

The Star 11/08/2000

KUALA LUMPUR: Owners of high-rise buildings will have to look after their own premises jointly once the Common Properties and Building Management Bill is passed.

Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said these owners would have to appoint a management corporation to take care of their premises once the strata titles were issued.

Speaking to reporters after the launch of the National Property Sales and Marketing Conference 2000 here, he said it was a mechanism for owners to collectively decide and be accountable for upkeep of the premises.

The ministry, he said, had received many complaints that developers were not doing a good job in servicing high-rise buildings and they were charging high maintenance fees.

He said developers complained of difficulty in collecting the fees.

"Rules concerning maintenance fees need to be tightened,'' he said, adding that such premises must have proper property management, otherwise they would turn into high-rise slumps.

The Government would table the Bill at the October Parliament session, he added.