Apartment residents fear falling roof tiles
22/06/2007 NST By  Phuah Ken Lin & Amy Hew See Yee

GEORGE TOWN, Fri:

Residents of the newly built Jelutong Indah apartments are living in fear of falling roof tiles. Two cars were damaged in the car park of the apartment complex in Jalan Haji Ahmad during the heavy storm on Tuesday afternoon.

Mazlan Nordin, whose car windscreen was shattered by the falling debris, said this has been going on since April.

"I feel unsafe walking around here. We have complained to the developer about the shoddy workmanship but the problem has not been solved," said the 49-year-old.

Sopiah Mat Saat, 37, said there have been at least six occasions since April that tiles have fallen off the roof. And the problem is compounded by leaking water pipes inside the units.

Sungai Pinang assemblyman Looi Swee Cheang has urged the developer JKP Sdn Bhd, an agency under the Ministry of Finance, to solve the problem quickly.

He said JKP built the apartments when the state government decided to relocate nearby squatters. There are 156 units, but only 32 are occupied.

A JKP spokesman said the company is aware of the problem and will meet the contractor to discuss re-installing the roof tiles.

"The property is still under warranty so we will arrange for the contractor to fix the problem immediately," he said,

He added that the contractor installed new tiles two weeks ago but, several were blown off by Tuesday’s strong winds.