Media statement by Dr. Hiew King Cheu in Kota Kinabalu on Saturday, 16^th June 2012:

10 SPNB projects faced delay

The problems arising from the many SPNB housing which are delayed and uncompleted until today have raised much concern among the purchasers. They have approached me to put forward again this problem into the Parliament during this June Session. They also asked on the formation of the Resident Committee and the Management Corporation (MC).

The Finance Ministry who is directly in charge of the SPNB gave a reply stating that there is no project currently undertaken by the Syarikat Perumahan Nasional Bhd (SPNB) is under completely abandoned status, or instructed to stop working. However, there are ten (10) projects are still under construction which experienced significant delays. This delay is due to the financial constraints as a result of rising prices of building materials, and it is also due to the rate of home sales proceeds are insufficient to cover the present expenses of construction and payments to suppliers and contractors. In addition, there are several projects that needed to be redeveloped according to new methods and new technologies which are for the purpose of cost savings and quality improvement. SPNB has taken action to address the issue of the 10 delayed projects, and the expected completion dates for the projects are from July 2012 until December 2015.

As for the purpose to obtain the individual land title or the strata titles, there are several conditions that must be followed:

a) Certificate of Fitness should be obtained;

b) Land titles are to be converted to the category of building / residence by the Sabah Land and Survey Department (JTUS)

c) The land titles for the new land have been converted and shall be issued by the JTUS;

d) Deposit for the survey work should be deposited by the contractor to JTUS; and

e) Licensed Surveyor shall be appointed by the contractor to carry out survey work of the building.

Accordingly, the SPNB at this stage is subjected to the change of land use application process, and subdivision of the land with JTUS. However, the SPNB is committed to ensuring that the issuance of the strata titles process can be completed as soon as possible in the State of Sabah.

While on the issue of setting up the individual resident committee and Management Corporation (MC) of a housing project to manage the particular housing on their own, the reply said that the buyers in the housing are allowed to form their own residents committee provided that the committee must first be registered with the Registrar of Societies in Malaysia (ROS).

This reply comes as good news to the house owners of the SPNB housing and at least they know that the Resident Committee can be formed without much hindrance as long as they are registered with ROS, where by they can gain control and manage their own housing.

SPNB must put in an effort to complete the housing projects as soon as possible, because many people had made purchases and still waiting to move in. The SPNB should be responsible to make early delivery of the units sold. Many people are paying their respective loans to the bank until now, but sadly without a place/home to stay. The government is always giving excuses and putting blame on various things. If the private developers can deliver on time, why can't the SPNB do the same, meaning they are not efficient at all? Thus, SPNB must make an effort to complete all the units sold as soon as possible without further delay. There is also no excuse for the delay in getting the strata titles out too.

* Dr Hiew King Cheu, MP for Kota Kinabalu