Who Is There To Protect Our Rights?
Sin Chew Daily Sinchew-i 2004/07/08

Zhang emptied most of his savings to book a medium cost apartment. The date of presumed delivery is now over and the house has also been completed, albeit without a CF. So Zhang still has to wait patiently to move in.

Li's experience is somewhat similar, but his developer is smarter and somehow has a way to get a CF for Li's property. So he moved in, joyfully, just to find that the door did not shut quite properly, the kitchen floor cracking and the toilet flushing system not in proper working order.

Buying a house is practically one of the most important things in an individual's life.

If everything goes well, moving into a new house is definitely something to celebrate, even if we do not have much left in our bank accounts.

But if things don't go that well, we won't know when we can move in, just while the pocket is getting thinner by the day, like what Zhang has encountered. Alternatively, we can move into the new house just to discover that whole lot of things are still not in proper order, like in Li's case. In either case, buying a house can be a nightmare, the source of agony.

However, within this complex mix of joy and pure agony are financial risks, and not everyone has the money or qualifications to taste that feeling. It nevertheless involves personal rights, and since personal rights are involved, they must be guarded by the government.

CF is a certification of the quality of newly completed buildings. The issuance of CFs by the local authority means the properties have been inspected to the specifications and environmental as well as utility requirements, and are certified fit for occupation. If the issuance of CFs is delayed, something might have gone wrong somewhere and needs to be rectified.

No housebuyers would like to experience that kind of dilemma Zhang and Li are in.

If the properties have met all the requirements and are found to be flawless, yet no CFs have been issued, we must then identify the root of the problem. Bureaucracy, poor efficiency and bribery cannot be ruled out. On the other hand, if the houses fail to meet the specifications yet CFs have been issued indiscreetly, bribery might then have played a role.

If the issuance of CFs has been delayed this way or carried out indiscreetly, the government should then punish the irresponsible officials and make amend, not to scrap the CFs altogether.

As long as the corruption virus is still very much alive, there are still ways for these corrupt officials to fatten themselves even if CFs are scrapped.

If the rights to inspect the completed houses are to be entirely surrendered to engineers and architects, as the Prime Minister has suggested, undoubtedly such a move will enhance the self-evaluation and self-management capacities of the public. But, being hired by developers, are those engineers and architects credible enough to win the trust of property buyers?

We don't mean to downplay the professionalism and credibility of engineers and architects, but even the most independent professionals will fall for monetary interests and go against the rights and interests of property buyers.

If the government insists to scrap the CFs, at least a watchdog committee formed by the Housing and Local Government Ministry, the housing association, housebuyers association, consumers association and other relevant professional bodies should be set up to evaluate the fitness of completed properties.

We believe such a committee is better positioned to effectively, transparently and promptly oversee the quality of houses.

It is a good thing for the government to relinquish some of its powers at appropriate times. Yet, it must also preserve and protect the fundamental rights of the people.

Property purchase is an example in this regard.