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The meeting held at the Commissioner of Building’s office at the COB Review Division of the National Housing Department [Bahagian Penyelarasan Pesuruhjaya Bangunan, Jabatan Perumahan Negara (JPN)] was chaired by Dato’ Mohammad Ridzuan bin Abidin, Director of the COB Review Division.

The meeting was well attended by representatives from the various stakeholders, including, the National House Buyers’ Association, REHDA, Lembaga Perumahan and Hartanah Selangor, Valuation and Property Services Department, Institute of Surveyors Malaysia and the relevant departments within the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The Bar Council was represented by members of its Conveyancing Practice Committee, namely Andrew Wong, Y P Cheong, Helen Ng and Sally Chee.

The meeting was called to consider feedback on the effectiveness of the Act following reaction received from the ground that owing to its inherent deficiencies and other connected causes, the Act cannot be implemented efficiently. The following key problems of implementation were identified and solutions discussed.

· Lack of qualified and skilled officers at the COB Unit to provide assistance to house buyers and the public on matters arising under the Act
The COB Unit is a new set-up, with personnel not sufficiently familiar with the details / requirements of the Act. The COB, having recognised this, has initiated a series of training workshops.

· There are no Regulations to support the Act
The JPN, with input from the stakeholders, including the Bar, initiated the drafting of a set of Regulations, designed to assist in the implementation of the Act, as well as cure the obstacles, loop-holes and deficiencies contained therein. The Draft Guidelines are now with the AG’s Chambers for finalisation.

· Lack of specific provisions under the Act to pass rules and/or regulations to address operational issues

· The Act is not up to date with current needs and trends as it was drafted based on issues/policies/laws adapted from other jurisdictions prevailing at that time.

· Contradictions and inconsistencies between this Act, the Strata Titles Act 1985 and the Housing Development (Control & Licensing) Act 1966 (2007)

· The provisions of the Act are not clear and open to different, and possibly acceptable, forms of interpretation

· The role of the Developer once the Joint Management Body (JMB) is formed is not clear

· The role of the Joint Management Body (JMB) is not adequately defined
Particularly in the wake of complex concepts of development involving a mixture of residential, commercial, hospital, college, etc. in a single development, it is necessary to have a comprehensive concept of JMB.   

· The provisions governing the appointment and role of Management Agents are not adequate

· No provision for enforcement if Developer delays in submitting application for strata title within time frame

· Poor enforcement

· Delay in setting up the JMB

· Purchasers of low and medium cost development unwilling to set up JMB

Proposed measures and initiatives to improve and overcome the current problems on implementation under consideration by JPN

1.    Formation of a Technical Committee, comprising representatives from government agencies, NGOs and professional bodies, to do a careful review of the Act and propose measures for improvement.      

2.    Workshop involving stakeholders to brainstorm proposed improvements.

3.    Submission of proposals to the Ministry within 1 year seeking urgent review and reform of the Act.

4.    Guidelines to smoothen the application of Act, including specific guidelines on work processes and operational issues.

5.    A comprehensive checklist of items for Developer to handover to JMB.

6.    Enforcement to be reinforced.

7.    The Ministry to conduct intensive courses on the Act for members of the public free of charge.

8.    JPN to seek REHDA’s cooperation to advise and guide their member developers on provisions under the Act to make this law workable, and advise Developers to play a more prominent role in helping house buyers set-up the JMB.

9.    To conduct awareness programmes for the benefit of members of the public to educate    them on their rights and obligations under the Act and encourage willing compliance. Besides workshops, programmes on television and through other means of mass media that can effectively reach the public will be tested.  


The feedback received at this meeting will be circulated to the participating stakeholders for comment and a subsequent meeting will be called to discuss the solutions in greater detail.

Thereafter, JPN intends to initiate efforts to streamline the inconsistencies and contradictions between this Act and the other 2 related legislation, the Strata Titles Act 1985 and the Housing Development (Control & Licensing) Act 1966 (2007).

A detailed Report of this meeting is available upon request. Kindly contact the Conveyancing Practice Department at 2031 3003, ext 212 (Thilaga) or 149 (Vino) or by email at vino.bs@malaysianbar.org.my