It’s the right of consumers
NST 14/10/2005

DEVELOPERS are resisting consumers’ demand for the build-then-sell concept as they are unwilling to move out of their comfort zone that has traditionally guaranteed them high profits with minimum risks — and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government is helping them by trying to delay the matter as long as possible.

The Malaysian housing sector has successfully resisted change. The industry is still practising labour-intensive methods, consuming resources that are depleting, employing economies of scale detrimental to the environment, passing all risks to consumers and profiting unabashedly from the venture.

Yet they claim to perform a social function. The arguments against build-then-sell would be amusing if not for the fact that the issue is very serious and affects our lives.

The Government has been trying to promote the Industrialised Building System (IBS) which cuts down construction time. The argument that IBS incurs higher cost is unjustified as cost can be reduced with higher volume of usage.

The greatest advantage of IBS is, of course, the savings in labour. Currently, to maximise profit, developers employ cheap, unskilled foreign labour, jeopardising the quality of the final product.

Consumers are powerless to question certification by professionals paid by developers.

In the United Kingdom, it has been possible to construct a McDonald’s business outlet in just two days using the modular system of construction. It would take Malaysian developers one year to construct a similar project.

On the argument of economies of scale, the current practice is to clear a large acreage of land and order everything in bulk to minimise costs. But clearing large tracts of land is a recipe for environmental disaster.

It is time the Malaysian housing industry opened itself to more innovative ideas and kept up with development in other parts of the world. And this cannot be achieved if developers are still keen to maintain the status quo.

Finally, the build-then-sell approach is not a choice but the consumer’s right.

M.N. Kuala Lumpur