Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi has given an early alert and warning to three government agencies to get ready for the enforcement of two anticipated Acts related to strata titles and the roles of developers.

The Acts - Strata Title Amendment Act 2012 and Strata Title Management Act - are expected to be passed by the current parliamentary sitting which ends on Nov 27, and enforced by January next year.

Ooi is giving the agencies a three-month timeline to get their act together so that all strata title issues can be resolved.

Ooi has named the local government (MPPP), Housing Unit under the State Secretariat and the five District Offices in Penang as the focal point for implementation of the Acts.

The MPPP needs to prepare itself as it would ultimately work with developers until occupancy certificates are issued to buyers, said Ooi.

MPPP will also be handling the tribunal under the Commissioners of Building, which is an important feature in the new Act as it is a tripatriate system where developers, buyers and the management bodies can bring a resolution to any conflict.

“The other two agencies - the Housing Unit and the District Offices - must tighten rules and regulations so that developers cannot run away from their duties to apply for strata titles for buyers,” Ooi told a press conference in Penang.

Ooi noted that he finds the updating of data “sluggish” at the District Offices, adding that backlogs must be cleared by the time the Acts come into force.

“When we first took over the state government (in 2008), over 1,500 housing projects were without strata titles although the projects has been completed for many years as some developers had gone missing, or were declared bankrupt,” he added.

“It is still the responsibility of the state government, which must coordinate with the District Offices to ensure that even though developers of private or government privatised projects have absconded,” he added.

Ooi said that currently, 50 percent of the problems have been resolved and urged the District Offices to update their databases so that the state government would be able to look into more cases of those who have yet to obtain their strata titles.

‘Big impact on housing’

Meanwhile, Ooi said that the passing of the two Acts would have a big impact on housing issues in the country, expecially for buildings and land which are stratified.

With the Acts, the laws would no longer be “toothless” and developers are required to apply for the issuance of strata titles while the project is ongoing and not after its completion, he added.

The related agencies which deal with strata titles, especially the Land Offices, are expected to issue them within 100 days and not 170 as in the past, he stressed.

“There are also several provisions to deal with fraudulent developers,” Ooi said during a press conference after compensation was handed over to over 70 families involved in the Jelutong Expressway (Jalan Tun Lim Chong Eu) development project by Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman.

He added that the buyers also cannot escape payment of maintenance fees under the new Strata Title Management Act.

“Maintenance fees must be submitted in 14 days so that nobody can take a free ride and eventually turn the area into a slum,” said Ooi.

“Those who do not pay would be subjected to a penalty of RM5,000, a jail term and added interest of 10 percent and a daily penalty of RM50 to ensure that everyone shares a common destiny,” he added.