question by a purchaser, the Liquidators’
legal consultant stated that...
if no Scheme
of arrangement could be agreed
amongst the parties despite reasonable
attempts, the Liquidators will be entitled
to disclaim the Sale and Purchase
agreements of the purchasers. In effect,
the lands purchasedwould revert to the
developer, Jade San Realty Sdn. Bhd.
(in liquidation). The Liquidators will
then be free to dispose the lands as they
deemappropriate.”
Removing all the complexities
surrounding the issue, Saran asks if "this
sounds at all fair? Is this what justice is
about?"
The simple truth is that this is just
reported as one of the 49,641 cases of
“delayed”, “sick” and “abandoned”
projects. Thesemay seem just statistics
gleaned from the local Ministry of
Housing, but in reality, reflect the
searing pain and tears of nearly
50,000 victims.
No updates for 2013 are available on
theMinistry's website.
reality check
Dr Mohamed Rafick Khan is the
president of VICTIMSMalaysia, an
association that fights for the interest of
abandoned “building owners”. He also
heads the sub-committee of an
abandoned project inUkay Bistari that
was launched in 2003, and is still pending
completion today. A victimhimself, he
estimates the number of abandoned
houses to have crossed 61,000 in
November 2013. “
Let’s just say the
average cost of a house is around
RM150,000. We are thus, looking at a
humongous RM9.15 billion problem.
Besides obviously affecting the
economy of Malaysia, this most
directly affects the lives, dreams and
security of several thousand
families. It also reduces their
disposable income
,” he opines.
Dr Rafick related the many obstacles
he had to overcome fromvarious
“bodies” in order to set up VICTIMS
Malaysia. This included KPKTwhich
objected to the formation of the
association through the Registrar of
Companies (ROS) in the early years.
After a decade pursuing the property
dilemma of PHUKB victims, they can
finally see some light at the end of the
proverbial tunnel. Owners of five of the
six blocks of condominiums under the
ON
friday
DEC 20, 2013
redemption sums of Cash Purchasers paid
to the Developer, Jade San Realty Sdn. Bhd.
(in liquidation) but not passed by the
Developer to the Bank". [This was,
supposedly, part of the arrangements made
between The Genting Valley Purchasers
Group and the Bank in July 2010].
"Reference was made to seeking the
High Court’s consent to the Liquidators’
scheme, whatever that may be. The
Liquidators will then convene a S176
CreditorsMeeting, where attendees will
be asked to accept or reject the scheme on
offer. The Liquidators said that there will be
three schemes, each covering the phases
according to the meetings.”
hobson's choice
Here is the stickler – “In response to a
UK Bistari mixed development project
finally received the keys to their home.
The last block, where Dr Rafick's lot is,
will soon be handed over.
“As the president of VICTIMS
Malaysia, and having tried to helpmany
other purchasers of abandoned
properties, I feel sad to say that I have seen
more failures than successes.
The
Ministry can call it whatever they
want –
delayed projects, sick projects,
abandoned projects
. What the
Ministry is trying to do is spread out
the statistics to showaminimal
number of abandoned projects. They
are
just manipulating the figures
.
Ironically, there are several projects that
are delayed and sick, since the late 80s
andmid 90s. Still, these have not been
classified as abandoned."
“As the issue now is on abandoned
projects, our attention should not
only be on the buildings.
We should
simultaneously focus our attention
on the economic implications thrust
upon the affected families
. The housing
industry is a regulated industry. How can
a regulated industry have abandoned
housing projects, especially those that
have been abandoned for years and/or
decades?” questions Dr Rafick.
Tan Koay Lye is owner and victimof
an abandoned property project. He and
others bought into The Legend Farmstead,
a 667-acre development project in Batang
Kali under Peninsular Park Sdn Bhd, a
subsidiary of Metroplex Berhad. They
waited out more than two decades for
some formof closure or reasonable
rehabilitation proposal.
Finally, being
compensatedwith a pitiful
40 sen per
sq ft
for landwhich they acquired 20
years ago
@
RM4 per sq ft
. Even
discounting the price inflation, Tan
equates this with
"daylight robbery".
"What has happened to justice and
integrity? Is there any "body"
protecting the rights and interests
of property purchasers inMalaysia,
both locals and foreigners? Is this
what the National Land Code
equates to?
"
he asks.
* Follow our column next week on more
abandoned property projects, including views
on what can and should be done to settle
backlog cases and prevent recurrence.
L
ast
week’s article ended leaving
the reader (and theSun) anxious,
knowing The Genting Valley
Purchasers Group (referred to as
“a/the
member
” hereafter) were formally
meeting the Liquidators of their
abandoned property project. Here is the
summarised essence of the meeting which
was held on Dec 10, 2013 at Seng Peng Hall
inWisma Chinese Chamber.
• Three meetings were held separately
– for purchasers of Phases 2 and 3 at
9.30am; for purchasers of Phases 2A and
2B at 12.30pm; and for purchasers of
Phase 1 at 3pm.
• Purchasers who queried about the
meeting agenda earlier were told to
attend and find out, which they did.
• After registration, the agenda included
a briefing on the findings postulated
by the liquidators and endedwith
other matters arisingwith no
rehabilitation proposal beingmade.
still unresolved...
The outcome according to Saran Kaur,
a
member
: “Each session covered in a
generic sense the liquidation process and
the role of the Liquidators. Findings
were brief and restricted to estimates by
unnamed consultants
on the percentage
of work required for the completion of
each phase. There was discussion on
process S176, the Scheme of Arrangement
under the Companies Act but there was
no information on the nature of a proposal
or a scheme for the rehabilitation of our
plots. Although ‘top-up’ was referred to
several times, no quantumwas mentioned
at any of the three meetings."
"For the future, no time line as to any
action by the Liquidators was provided.
The Liquidators confirmed that the
Chargee Bank, Hong Leong Bank Berhad
(HLBB), continues its consent to waive the
X
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Please email your queries to us:
>Caveat: Youmay not always getwhat you havebeen shown...
real estate (p)lots
PART 2
Abandonedprojects
(Below) Images in The Genting Valley property development brochure and the two showhouses, as they stand today. Apart from four
other houses which are unfit for occupancy (refer images bottom left), the land is barren, exposing the canard and untruths couched
in the 80% and 100% "completed" reports.
No gate, guard
or
housing development
2. Title deed to
members'
plot/s – Master Titles were not sub-divided or converted from
agricultural to residential use. No individual titles were issued. Yet, this section was
deemed and signed off as "80% completed".
3. Gated and guarded for which
members
were
to be charged a monthly maintenance fee.
Phase 1 purchasers were billed (and some
paid) maintenance fees, and were charged
two years in advance, along with quit rent.
Jasmine
Rosea
1. Plot(s) of land with infra-structure ready
to build homes. Phases 2, 2A, 2B and 3
– Purchasers paid up to 80% of the S&P
price but still cannot find how 80% of the
works were deemed "completed".
Entrance to Phase 1 of the Genting Valley
development.
Exclusive bungalow plots with facilities?
Lush greenery, not where you want it.
INSIGHTS
CUT AND KEEP
