453 housing developers blacklisted
28/03/2007 NST By Heidi Foo

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 453 errant housing developers have been blacklisted by the Housing and Local Government Ministry for various offences.

As of Dec 31 last year, 163 housing developers and 461 directors failed to comply with the awards given out by the Homebuyers Claims Tribunal.

The remaining 290 developers were found to have failed to settle compound notices issued to them for failing to produce their respective progress reports (Laporan Kemajuan Projek).

At a press conference held yesterday, the ministry’s director of monitoring and enforcement, Dr G. Parameswaran, said the authorities were constantly monitoring the blacklisted companies to ensure they did not assume other names.

"We will run a check to see if they have been previously blacklisted. The names of the directors involved will remain on our list and they are not allowed to operate under new development firms or undertake new projects until they have complied with the tribunal order or settle the compounds.

"We are taking a more aggressive approach which includes raiding developers’ premises to ensure they obey the laws.

"While it is our role to protect the interest of housebuyers, we are also aware that the developers contribute much to the growth of the economy. Therefore, we want to ensure that the housing sector maintains a healthy growth," said Parameswaran.

He said the ministry had received more than 16,500 complaints from the public between 2001 and 2006. The complaints have been classified under 13 categories.

"The most number of complaints received falls under the category of ‘Liquidated Assessment Damages’ which recorded a total of 3,611 cases while the lowest was 97 cases under the ‘Infrastructure’ category. Of the 3,611 cases, 1,978 were solved," he said.

Last year, Selangor recorded 2,029 complaints which was the highest compared with other states. The complaints made up 45 per cent of the total complaints recorded.

Kuala Lumpur was the second highest with 1,291 complaints.

He also said about RM1.6 million was collected from 1,051 developers who were issued with compound notices from 2003 till Dec 31 last year.

"Of these, 685 notices were issued for failure to produce their progress reports, 626 for not complying with the housing development advertisement guidelines and three for other offences under the Housing Development Act (Control and Licensing) 1966."