Housing claims still okay, says tribunal
11/02/2003 Daily Express
 
Kota Kinabalu: The Consumer Claims Tribunal will continue to hear claims pertaining to housing problems from housebuyers in Sabah and Sarawak.

Its President, Noor Azian Shaari, said this was because the housing tribunal being set up by the Housing and Local Government Ministry recently to handle such claims, was yet to be extended to the two states.

This is not like in the peninsula, where we will no longer receive any claims made by consumers relating to housing problems because these sort of claims are now being referred to the Housing Tribunal, she said.

So those who have any claims relating to housing problems can still file them with the tribunal here, she added.

Noor Azian, meanwhile, said the tribunal in Sabah had managed to clear all the 127 claims filed in the State after the completion of its hearing on Monday.

She said of the figure, 55 cases were withdrawn, 23 solved through negotiation and 49 settled by hearing.

The 127 were among the 2,649 claims filed with the tribunal throughout the country last year, she added.

I am confident that the tribunal can settle all of last years leftover claim cases in the other states by the end of this month to maintain its efficiency and effectiveness, Noor Azian said.

This year, she said, a total of 373 claim cases had been filed so far, of which 38 or 10 per cent were withdrawn soon after being filed.

Some 236 of the cases filed for this year relate to goods and the other 137 to services, said Noor Azian.

In Sabah, nine claim cases have been filed so far this year, but one was withdrawn while the other eight, are awaiting hearing.