08/08/2009 The Star Story and photos by OH ING YEEN

SOUTH City Condominium owners are left in a lurch when they discovered that the management office has been closed since Aug 1.

They are worried that they would have no one to refer to for their complaints.

The South City Condominium consists of 961 units from two apartment blocks and one condominium block. Owners are required to pay a maintenance fee of between RM90 and RM200 per month.


Wet, wet, wet: The basement of South City Condominium is flooded by water from a burst pipe. Residents claim to be left in a lurch after the management company called it quits.

Housewife Chong Fei Yuen, 38, who has been living in the apartment since 2000, said the main water pipe had burst recently and water had been gushing out.

“It’s wastage and I’m sure that our water bills will be high.

“Without the management company, who is going to solve this issue? We can’t turn off the water supply as it will affect all the condo residents. I don’t know what to do,” she said.

Furthermore, the residents said the Joint Management Body (JMB) chairman had resigned recently.

Dr Tee Ai Kock, when contacted, said he had decided to call it quits after serving as the chairman for the past one and a half years.

“I have sent in my resignation letter to the committee on July 30 since there are other capable people who wish to take up the post.

“Although I have resigned, there are still other committee members in the JMB.

“The management company’s term has expired on June 30. But the residents can still refer to the other JMB committee members when it comes to maintenance problems,” he said.

Some residents were dissatisfied that they were denied the right to elect the Joint Manage-ment Body (JMB) committee during the annual general meeting held on June 28.

“An outsider (non-condominium owner) called Khong Chee Seng was hired to chair the annual general meeting (AGM). He said that there was no need for an election as the elected JMB can continue their term for three years,” said resident Felix Lai.

“We did not agree but he said that it was illegal to have an election,” he said.

Another condo-owner, who only wanted to be known as Debbie, 51, said they trusted the JMB committee when it was formed last year but was disappointed that their rights had been denied.

“We want transparency,” she said.

The residents showed letters from the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) in reply to their complaint about the AGM.

The council requested the JMB to provide the AGM minutes and an explanation as well as relevant documents.

In a second letter to the JMB chairman, the council ordered the committee to set a date for the EGM, in accordance to sub-section 10(2)(b) Building and Common Property (maintenance and management) 2007 (Act 663).

The council also requested for Khong to explain how he became the AGM chairman, his qualifications and to provide relevant documents.

Lai added that the current guidelines about JMB should be looked into.

“Many house owners do not know the law and their rights, we are not the only ones.

“I hope that there will be governing bodies to oversee such cases to protect the rights of owners.

On the residents’ claims about lack of transparency, Tee said some of the documents were confidential, hence the condo owners could not view it.

On the election, he said: “The person who chaired the meeting got the clearance from the floor to become the AGM chairman.

“Most of the residents agreed to not have the election, only a handful insisted on it.”

He admitted that he was not sure if it was right not have the election.

“If the AGM was not conducted in a proper way, then there should be an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), otherwise it is up to the existing committee members to chose another chairman,” he said.