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Unit owners get reprieve
26/03/2006 The Star By Priscilla
Dielenberg
PENANG: The owners of 64 apartment units at Taman Jelutong Jaya here have
been given a temporary reprieve as their homes would not go under the hammer
today.
High Court Justice John Louis O’Hara yesterday granted a stay of execution
on the auction, pending the hearing of an application to intervene a court
order obtained by Public Bank Berhad on Sept 22, 2005 to auction off the
units.
Public Bank had obtained the auction order after developer Taman Penawar Sdn
Bhd failed to settle an outstanding debt of RM1.5mil. It is learnt that the
developer had wound up two years ago.
The two blocks of apartments in Sungai Pinang have 90 low-medium cost units,
most of which have been occupied since 2000.
On Monday, a group of apartment owners filed an application to intervene the
court order, claiming that they have proprietary and beneficial interests in
their action. They are also applying to set aside the entire order of sale.
Yesterday, the bank’s counsel C.H. Chang told the court that his client
needed time to file an affidavit-in-reply.
Commenting on the new development, housewife Leow Cheng Im, 50, said she was
quite relieved that the auction had been held off but she was still anxious
as the matter was not over yet.
“We are still unsure of the eventual outcome. Many of us have no other homes
to move to, and the older folk would not be able to take out bank loans for
a new place to stay,” she said.
Grandmother See Leng Lee, 79, said she had been crying everyday over the
fate of her family of 12, which included five grandchildren.
“I could not eat for the past two or three days as I have been too worried
about the roof over our heads. I pity my grandchildren. If we are kicked
out, they would suffer hardship. Houses today are not cheap,” she said.
In an affidavit supporting the application, deponent Ooi Swee San said the
sale and purchase agreement was signed in 1997 and 1998 and residents began
moving into their units in 2000. |
