No more delays

NST 22/03/2005

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. - From December, Malaysians will be able to move into their new houses and apartments much faster.

The reason: The all-important certificate allowing a house to be occupied will be issued by architects and engineers, and not local authorities, as has been the case for decades.

Besides cutting through a mountain of red tape, this move is also aimed at reducing opportunities for corruption among local council officials.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the Certificate of Fitness for Occupation (CFO), currently issued by local authorities, would be replaced by the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC).

With this, he said, delays associated with obtaining CFOs should be a thing of the past.

Conditions of the CCCs will be identical to those of the CFOs. "We expect the new system to be put into place by the end of the year," Ong told reporters after the opening of the parliamentary session today.

In June last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the requirement for CFOs from local authorities might be replaced by declarations from building professionals that a building or house was safe for occupation.

This proposal was warmly embraced by professional bodies and others, who felt it would reduce the waiting time for CFOs.

There was also a consensus that by taking the power to issue CFOs away from local authorities, there would be fewer opportunities for graft, which in turn would reduce the cost of doing business.

It is common knowledge that some developers and individual house owners have had to grease palms to get local authorities to issue CFOs speedily.