Advice to Taman Ketiau residents
01/07/2007 Daily Express Sabah

Putatan: The residents of Taman Ketiau, near here, have been advised to register their residents action committee in compliance with the Local Authorities Act so that all their complaints can be heard and attended to legally.

In giving the advice, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin said it is imperative the existing committee do so, in order to represent the more than 600 residents in some 820 units of the housing park.

"I was made to understand that the present committee was formed through the residents' initiatives and was not done properly. Also, they have yet to register their names with the local authority here.

"That is why the first step is to register the committee according to the law so that the developer, TPPT Sdn Bhd, can deal with their complaints legally.

"And the maintenance section can use its 'sinking funds' to repair the defects or resolve any condition in the housing park that is causing dissatisfaction among the residents," he said.

Yahya, who is also Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister, was speaking to reporters at a dialogue with the residents following 200 complaints on house defects, at a hall in Taman Ketiau, here.

The present Action Committee of Taman Ketiau headed by Abdullah Salleh handed over a memorandum containing details on house defects that they are facing to Yahya, who is also Petagas Assemblyman.

Also present were TPPT Sdn Bhd General Manager, Mohamed Fadzil Emby, its Sales Manager Abd Aziz Salleh, Assistant District Officer for sub-district Putatan, Ag Abdul Ghani Pg Yusof and Maintenance Manager for Taman Ketiau, Jason Fung.

Yahya said the committee must also organise an annual general meeting (AGM) to let the residents choose reliable and responsible people to head the committee on their behalf.

On the 200 complaints, he said, those are minor defects that can be rectified in a short period by the developer.

"In my first visit to Taman Ketiau, we did a joint inspection with the developer and the local authority here to look into their complaints which they claimed were structural defects.

"We found out those defects were not structural or major defects that would jeopardise the residents' safety and involve high costs to repair. The defects were just minor ones like leaking pipes, and cracks on ceiling that can be repaired," he said.

Meanwhile, TPPT General Manager Mohamed Fadzil Emby said they are also in the process of obtaining strata titles for the residents from the Land and Survey Department.

Fadzil said they submitted their applications as soon as they obtained the Occupation Certificate (OC) for the housing project three to four years ago.

"According to the law, we must apply for the strata title as soon as we obtain the OC for the project. We are still waiting and have been doing follow-ups.

"We are responsible for the maintenance for Taman Ketiau pending the issuance of the strata titles to the owners," he said.

In another event, Yahya reminded parents of the importance of education for their children to achieve the objectives of human capital development.

"Education is the most important element in our life. Without knowledge and education, we would be left behind.

"That is why parents, teachers and the community must give their total support to all activities organised by the schools," he said in his speech when launching a SMK Tansau Pasar Ria at the school's compound, Saturday.

The school organised the bazaar to raise funds to carry out educational programmes.