Taman Kepong folks want an answer - The Star

April 22, 2008 By YIP YOKE TENG

AFTER five years, the Taman Kepong Residents Association wants the developer to give them an answer as to when the long-delayed low-cost housing project will be completed.

The association represents more than 500 households, involving some 3,600 people, from Taman Kepong (Section C) who were relocated to make way for development.

They will be moved to the 550-unit low-cost housing project that is a joint venture between the landowner and its appointed developer. Construction began in early 2003 and was scheduled to be completed in 2006. However, the RM23mil project that is 80% complete has come to a standstill.

The residents have bought the units at RM42,000 each and are burdened with RM400 in instalment and RM200 on interest every month.


Waiting in vain: Residents explaining their problems to Dr Tan (seated).

“We want our houses ready soon and we want the developer to compensate us for our losses,” said association secretary Lim Kon Son at a meeting with Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw and attended by about 50 residents.

“We want the developer to resume work immediately,” he added.

Many residents lamented that their homes were flood-prone or in a deplorable state but they could not carry out renovations as they were supposed to move into new homes.

“We are in a quandary and are forced to live in terrible conditions while waiting for our new homes,” sub-contractor Lai Piang Yong, 54, said.

Dr Tan said the developer should compensate all residents on the extra interest paid as this had been stipulated in the contract.

“They have to also make sure that the units meet the residents’ requirements, including getting the strata titles,” he said.

A spokesman for the developer said they were forced to halt the work as the landowner refused to carry out the necessary measures, including building an access road and diverting a stretch of river.

“We can’t carry on with the work if they are not doing their part, as the building will not get its Certificate of Fitness,” he said.