Developer ordered to pay two house buyers RM112,524.62 for late delivery
KUCHING: The Sarawak Housing Purchaser Claims Tribunal yesterday ordered a developer of a housing area in Jalan Arang here to pay two house buyers a total of RM112,524.62 for late delivery of properties.
Tribunal president Robert Elone Sireng along with panelists Alhadi Ibrahim and Simon Woon decided that the developer was to pay Ang Yian Lee a sum of RM32,140.16 for late delivery of 832 days, and Pui Siew Kian a sum of RM80,384.46 for late delivery of 1,133 and 818 days on two properties in the same housing area.
The Occupational Permit (OP) for Ang’s property was issued on April 5, 2019, while Pui’s was on Oct 26, 2020 and April 5, 2019, respectively.
The tribunal also decided that the two claimants were entitled to an extra 55 days to submit their claims.
“During the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, no government offices were operational, so we allow 55 days extra to submit the claims even though it passed 18 months after the OP was issued,” Robert told a press conference at the end of the proceeding at the old State Legislative Assembly building here.
During the proceeding, Ang also informed the tribunal that the developer had failed to fix a toilet door on his property, with Robert then ordering the developer to replace the door according to the design plan submitted to the local authorities.
The developer has to settle the claims within 45 days of receiving the letter of award from the tribunal.
On the failure to deliver the properties on time, Robert said it was because the developer had attended to the buyers’ request to amend the original design plan, which resulted in a delay in the issuance of the OP from the local authorities.
Woon meanwhile reminded small-time developers on the need to come up with a letter of undertaking with the buyer if any amendment to the design plan was involved.
“In this case, there is a good relationship between the developer and the buyers and when the buyers requested for change (to the design plan), the developer agreed to do it.
"When changes are involved, the developer needs to get approval from the local authorities and this may result in a delay of the issuance of the OP," he said.