22/07/2008 The Star By Jade Chan

RESIDENTS of the Sri Aman low-cost flats in Petaling Jaya are plagued with a host of problems, among them a lack of parking space for cars and motorcycles, and excessive number of shoplots.

Sri Aman Low-Cost Flats Residents Association chairman Ahmad Fauzi Mat Said and deputy chairman Ruslan Basri brought up the problems during a meeting with PJ Utara MP Tony Pua.

Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San and two Petaling Jaya City Councillors – Tiew Way Keng and S. Ramakrishnan – were also present at the meeting.

According to Ruslan, their sales & purchase (S&P) agreement stated that there would be only six shoplots at the flats, but the number had increased to 13 when they moved in the middle of 2006.

“We checked with the MBPJ (Petaling Jaya City Council), which said that the developer had requested to increase the number of shoplots. But the residents were never consulted on the request or informed of the reason for the increase,” Fauzi said.

Lack of parking space: Sri Aman residents want the additional shoplots (like the corner restaurant) to be emptied so the space can be used as parking space for motorcycles as per the original plan.

“We want the additional seven shoplots to be emptied so the space can be used as parking space for motorcycles as per the original plan,” he said.

“Some of the flats are also leaking, while the large gap between the stairs poses a danger for the children,” he said.

“There is also a deep and wide drain parallel to the exit road which we want closed for safety reasons,” Fauzi said.

Ruslan said of the 340 flat units, 300 are occupied by former squatters of Kampung Taman Aman, while the remaining 40 were sold to outsiders or brokers.

“Priority to buy the 40 units should have been given to the residents’ children, as most would want to remain close to their families after getting married,” he said.

According to Pua. even though the MBPJ guideline states that there is a ratio of one shoplot for every 40 residential units, this is irrelevant because the contract signed between the developer and residents specifically states only six shoplots.

Safety concern: Residents are concerned about their children's safety as they could easily climb up the banister and fall over.

“If the developer wanted to make any changes to the contract, they should obtain the agreement of the buyers before revising it,” he said.

“What we have now is a breach of contract. A supplementary agreement should have been attached to the S&P if the developer wanted to increase the number of shoplots,” Pua said.

Ramakrishnan said he would highlight their problems at the next MBPJ sustainable committee meeting.

Tiew said a sub-committee under the economy, investment, industrial and privatisation committee would set up a task force to audit those who are qualified for low-cost flats.

Lau said he hoped the MBPJ would be able to resolve the problems soon, and that the council should be more careful in constructing and allocating low-cost flats in the future.

“On the state government’s part, it should be careful in the selection of developers for such projects because we don’t want the good name of the building industry to be tarnished by a few black sheep,” Lau said.