By Khairul Khalid
Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the minister of urban wellbeing, housing and local government has betrayed the public by making a U-turn on the government’s promises to implement the BTS (build then sell) 10:90 housing delivery system in 2015, said Mohamed Rafick Khan, president of Victims Malaysia (an association representing victims of abandoned housing).
“It is a betrayal of trust, a breach of promise made to the public,” said Rafick during a press conference organised by the National House Buyers Association (HBA).
“Abdul Rahman recently made the U-turn to shun the mandatory imposition of the BTS 10:90 system,” said honorary secretary general of HBA Chang Kim Loong at the press conference.
Chang Kim Loong
“He said that he will instead propose to the government to allow BTS 10:90 system to co-exist with the current sell-the-build (STB) concept. This is akin to allowing the housing developers a free rein again,” said Chang further. “What is wrong with the ministry of housing?”
In February 2012, the previous housing minister Chor Chee Heung declared that BTS 10:90 system would be made mandatory by 2015. There were also amendments made to the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 to prepare for the imminent BTS 10:90.
Abdul Rahman took over Chor’s post after the general elections in 2014.
“Chor’s statement on BTS 10:90 implementation was recorded in the Parliament Hansard. Whatever the minister of housing says in the Parliament is in an official capacity on behalf of the cabinet which binds all ministers under the doctrine of collective ministerial capacity. We are sure the current minister is aware of this fundamental practice,” said Chang.
Under the BTS 10:90 system, house buyers would only need to fork out the initial 10% down payment when booking a house and do not need to make any further payments until the vacant possession of the property is delivered to them whereupon the balance 90% will be paid.
The BTS 10:90 system was proposed mainly to safeguard house buyers from unscrupulous property developers and protect them from abandoned housing projects.
Abdul Rahman Dahlan
“There are still 205 unlicensed developers scattered around Malaysia. The issue of abandoned housing projects is still very chronic. It often involves destruction of families’ income and livelihood. ” said Chang.
According to Rafick, the number of local buyers not receiving their homes within the time frame promised by the developers are still very high.
“The number of house buyers not receiving their purchased unit within six months or later than the promised date is estimated to be at more than 71,172 houses in 356 projects affecting approximately 49,641 people and families. These are all statistics from the housing ministry. We are looking at a problem worth billions of ringgit to the economy,” said Rafik at the HBA press conference.
Rafick says that despite the government forming a special task force to tackle the issue of abandoned housing, the number of abandoned projects has risen from 148 in 2009 to 202 in 2014. Sometimes the problem of abandoned housing also leads to various social problems such as divorce caused by financial strain.
Rafick also adds that he has tried to arrange for a formal meeting with Abdul Rahman to discuss the issue urgently, but so far has been given the cold shoulder by the minister.
Approximately 75% of the abandoned housing victims are Malays, according to Sheikh Abdul Kareem, a representative of Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) who was also at the HBA conference. This was backed up by Chang who adds that this is mainly because many of the unscrupulous and unlicensed developers use Malay reserve land.
“Enforcement is the weakest link and is not forthcoming in bringing errant developers to justice. Since 1990, the housing ministry has prosecuted fewer than ten housing developers. There are still banks providing bridging finance to illegal developers. Banks also do not take action against errant architects or lawyers if a project fails. Where is the consumers’ protection?” asks Sheikh.
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