Residents claim developer charging too high for water
28/09/2006 The Star

MUAR: Residents of a low-cost flat complex near Jalan Bakariah here want Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) to send their monthly utility bills directly to them instead of to the developer.

The residents, headed by housewife Junita Mohd Ali, claimed the developer had been charging them more than their water usage every month.

She said the residents, including herself had been paying between RM30 and RM40 for their water bills every month to the developer for more than four years although they used little water.

“We have written to SAJ to complain about the high water bill but SAJ said we agreed for the water bills to be sent to the developer.

“We are now asking SAJ to send the bills directly to our homes,” she said after the residents put up a picket protesting the high water bill during a visit by Bentayan assemblyman Richard Lau recently.

Junita said the residents also felt it was wrong for the developer to name their low-cost flat complex Pangsapuri Sri Bakariah as their units were not pangsapuri or apartments.

She said due to the name, the residents had to pay higher utility and maintenance fees, including to Indah Water, as their units were categorised as apartments.

She said the two blocks of four-storey buildings housing 64 units and cost RM25,000 each were low-cost flats and naming the complex Pangsapuri Sri Bakariah was misleading.

She said they had referred the matter to Indah Water, which agreed to lower their monthly maintenance fees accordingly, but they still had to pay higher water bills.

Junita said they also wanted the developer to install streetlights along the road leading to their flats, as it was dark at night, adding that seven residents had been victim to snatch thieves.

Later, Lau, who spent more than an hour listening to their plights, said he would raise their problems with the developer and SAJ on their high water bill.

He said he would also look into their other complaints, including on security of the area, after the seven snatch theft incidents and some residents had their motorcycle parts stolen.

“We will do our best to help the residents. At the same time I also want them to form a committee to enable them discuss their problems and pass them on to me,” he said.