An opposition lawmaker warned the government in the Sarawak state assembly yesterday that provisions in the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Bill 2013 can lead to abuse of power if the minister's discretion is not limited.

NONE PKR Batu Lintang assemblyperson See Chee How said the conditions or restrictions in sub-section (e) and (f) of the Bill would help to weed out errant developers who do not meet their obligations to house purchasers.

"However it is with concern that I note that previously the minister was at liberty to waive condition (a) only (under the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Ordinance 1993), while under the proposed Bill, his discretion extends across the board, on all the conditions or restrictions.

"The new Bill will do well to limit the minister's discretion by providing guidelines on how the discretion is to be exercised, to prevent any abuse of power, actual or perceived," See warned during the debate on the Bill.

He then proposed that the power to grant licences to housing developers be delegated to a committee consisting of stakeholders, upon whose advice the minister should grant the licences.

"To ensure accountability, transparency and competency, this committee may be made up of:

  • The controller of housing or the deputy controller, who may chair the committee;
  • A member of the association of the house buyers or a consumers association representative acting in the interests of the house buyers;
  • A member from the association of developers; and
  • Two members from the state assembly, a backbencher and a member from the opposition bench, to provide the necessary scrutiny and monitoring of the performance, administration and policy of the committee.
"A committee made up of the stakeholders will certainly be able to provide closer scrutiny and ensure better control and licensing of housing developers," he said.

See expressed sympathy with house buyers who had suffered hardship due to the lack of proper guidelines, coupled with the lackadaisical attitude of those involved.

In this, he was referring to Taman Bayside at Jalan Batu Kawah, where 40 buyers including 37 current and retired teachers, had signed their sale and purchase agreement between 1994 and 1995.

'Housing development account' a solution

Construction started in 1995, but the project was abandoned in 1999 after the developer was declared bankrupt.

At another housing project, Taman Petronesa 2 on Jalan Tan Sri Abang Ikhwan Zaini, 60 buyers, mostly civil servants were compelled to sign an additional agreement for purported ‘renovation' and ‘improvement' works.

The buyers had to pay an additional RM50,000, for which the developer provided no additional benefits as the payment was just to by-pass the low-cost plus requirements.

Further, the developer had not provided all the facilities promised in the sale and purchase agreement.

Purchasers cheated by the developer have referred the matter to various departments, including the housing minister, but the matter is still not resolved, See said.

"However, even if the new Bill is to be introduced, it will still not be of help to the Taman Bayside house buyers and other similar cases.

A solution to such cases, See said, would be for developers to be made to immediately inject RM100 million into a 'Housing Development Account', that can be used to compensate buyers of failed housing projects or against developers who abscond.

This would bring meaning to the spirit of the new Bill, which is the 'protection of the purchasers'.