Proposed Amendment To Housing Development Law Not Applicable To Sarawak
Bernama 6/12/2006

KUCHING, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- The proposed amendment to the housing development law, which will give house buyers the right to nullify the sale and purchase agreement if a housing project encounters problems, is not applicable to Sarawak.

Sarawak Housing Minister Datuk Seri Abang Johari Tun Openg said Wednesday the state government had a different mechanism to protect the interests of house buyers, with the Sarawak Housing and Development Commission (SHDC) as the approving authority to build housing estates.

"We are not obliged (to implement the federal law). So long as the existing system suits us and does not give us any problems, we are okay," he told reporters after opening the three-day 2nd International Borneo Business Conference (IBBC 2006) here.

Last week, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the proposed amendment to the law sought to empower the minister concerned to remove and replace errant contractors of government housing projects.

Besides allowing house buyers to take legal action against developers without the consent of the financial institutions or the housing loan provider, the amendment also seeks to empower the minister to appoint a new contractor to replace the errant contractor without having to refer the matter to the Finance Ministry.

Abang Johari said the problems faced by house buyers in the peninsula, including abandoned housing projects, were not that rampant in Sarawak.

In Sarawak, the private sector and developers responded to complaints by having their own code of ethics, which was a check and balance system, he said.

"The federal ministry wants to have more houses built, so you have a surplus of houses but this is dangerous to the economy as it will create a bubble," he said on the need to amend the existing law to have a better monitoring system.

The proposed amendment is also expected to enhance the jurisdiction of the House Buyers Claims Tribunal to hear claims of not more than RM50,000 from not more than RM25,000 at present.

-- BERNAMA