By CHOONG MEK ZHINmekzhin@thestar.com.my
THE many problems faced by low-cost flat residents in Selangor may be a thing of the past as the state government plans to set up a company to carry out the maintenance services at such places.
State housing, building management and squatters committee chairman Iskandar Abdul Samad said the company, which would most likely be set up under the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), would handle all maintenance work at low-cost flats from June next year.
Iskandar, who spoke to reporters after attending a meeting at Angsana Hilir Flats in Ampang, said the state exco had made the decision during a meeting last week.
“This move will help ease the financial burden of the flat dwellers. Maintenance fees will not be so high because a single company requesting quotations for repairs and maintenance work for all the flats will surely get a cheaper price than individual quotations from the different flats,” he said.
He added that there were 78 blocks of low-cost flats in the state with Joint Management Bodies (JMB) who usually hired private companies to maintain their property.
“A lot of companies do not want to take on the job of maintaining low-cost flats because they know that the residents are unable to pay high maintenance fees which would make them run at a loss,” Iskandar said.
So far, there are a total of 250,000 strata units in Selangor and more than 70% of them are low-cost units that house about 1.2 million residents.
Iskandar also said PKNS had already begun elevator repairs and had fixed 41 elevators in Desa Mentari in Petaling Jaya, Permai Indah in Pandamaran and Taman Ampang Mewah in Ampang for RM1.66mil.
“Another seven more locations in dire need of elevator repairs have already been identified. The repair work will be carried out soon,” he added.
He also said it was the residents’ responsibility to fix broken down lifts, repainting common property, repairing shared water tanks and such via the sinking fund.
“There are two fees that are collected by the management body of a high-rise apartment, which are the maintenance fee and the sinking fund.
“The sinking fund is supposed to be used for major infrastructure repairs,” he said.
Iskandar said many failed to pay the maintenance fees thus the sinking fund was used for purposes other than major repairs.
“When a big problem comes around, there is not enough in the sinking fund to carry out maintenance. It is a common misconception that the big problems are the responsibility of the local authority or state government,” Iskandar said.
He said a loophole in the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 was causing problems in collecting maintenance fees at low-cost flats.
“This is because most of the low-cost flat dwellers are only tenants and the Act does not provide a way to penalise those who do not pay the fees.
“Landlords also do not pay for it or fail to inform their tenants to pay the maintenance fees,” Iskandar said.
However, he said under the Strata Title Act 1985, action could be taken against not only owners but also the tenants who failed to pay the maintenance fees.
“I will be bringing this matter up at the next state exco meeting so that we can try to find a solution to this and see if there is a way to penalise tenants who fail to settle maintenance fees,” Iskandar said.
He said since last year, the state government had embarked on the My Beautiful, Happy and Harmonious Apartment programme to raise awareness and educate low-cost flat residents on their monthly maintenance fees.
“Flats with critical problems are given priority and we visit one location almost every week. After the programme is complete, we hope to be able to start taking action to fix the problems,” he added.
