PM: Public interest comes first

06/07/2004 The Star

PUTRAJAYA: The proposed abolition of the certificate of fitness (CF) requirement for new buildings will in no way compromise the people’s interest and the safety of buildings, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

He said the Government would not rush through the proposal and would only implement it once everything was ready.

This included putting in place stricter laws to ensure that the professionals who would vouch for the safety and specification of buildings would be held accountable for their actions.

“The principle of this approach is that all the professionals, like architects and engineers, must not only be accountable but must also be willing to shoulder their responsibilities and are transparent in their actions,” he told reporters after opening the Commonwealth Association of Planners Conference at the Putrajaya Convention Centre here yesterday.

This new approach, said Abdullah, was based on the concept of mutual trust between the Government and all the professionals involved in development projects.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, when approached at the same function, said that the system which would replace the CF requirement would ensure that “the original objectives of the CF are maintained.”

He said the ministry’s technical committee entrusted with the task of studying the plan had already met various professional bodies including the Malaysian Architects Association, Real Estate and Housing Developers Association and the National Housebuyers Association to seek their views.

Ong said some of the parties were initially quite apprehensive over such a big responsibility, but they had since shown their support for the proposal.

“So we are converging now. If they strictly follow the existing laws and legislations, there should not be any problem,” he said.

Earlier in his speech, Abdullah said urban development planners needed to engage the public in discussions over issues that would affect the way they work and live.

Urban planning approach, he said, had changed from mainly a physical approach to one that was more people-oriented by placing equal importance on economic, social and environmental issues.

Rural rejuvenation, he said, must go hand-in-hand with urban development so that urban migration could be checked and would not result in urban poverty, societal fragmentation, inadequate housing and pollution.