Study on strata titles

The Star 13/12/2001 By Salina Khalid

The Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) will conduct a study on ways to overcome the strata title problems faced by flat and apartment owners in the municipality.

Council president Datuk Emran Kadir said the study would ensure that high-rise building owners received their strata titles "accordingly".

He said the issue, if unresolved, could pose a big problem to the council when all low-cost flat projects in the municipality were completed by 2005.

"It will be a mammoth problem if we do not find ways to solve the problem now. "Otherwise, we (MPPJ) will be caught in it too," he added.

He added that some municipal councillors had expressed concern about the problem. He explained that it was the developer's responsibility to submit the application to the Selangor Lands and Mines Department for strata titles.

He said they were supposed to do so six months after obtaining the Certificates of Fitness (CFs) for the flat or apartment projects.

However, some companies did not do so, depriving flat and apartment buyers of their "ownership rights".

He said some buyers had to wait very long for strata titles. "The problem is that some of these companies no longer exist. So, the strata title could not be produced as there were no application from the developer," he added.

He said sometimes, the council tried to locate the developer and make them file the application on behalf of the buyer.

He said problems would arise when the company could not be traced or had ceased business. The MPPJ chief said another reason why developers did not submit their applications for strata titles were due to failure to meet certain requirements.

He said previously, applying for strata title was considered a big hassle by most developers since it involved various government agencies.

"Previously, they had to go to the Lands and Mines Department and the Survey Department for the titles.

"But now, since the setting up of a one-stop service centre, it is no longer a tedious job for them," he said.