The Walk of Life

What I am pondering now after the dismantling of the Barisan Power in our recent General Elections is the possibility of the Local Authorities coming down hard on dubious Property Developers who sold sub-standard, very poor quality houses to the general public. From experience, quality of houses built currently is of poor quality as compared to houses built in the early 70’s and 80’s! I have been to many house warming and I was shocked by the poor workmanship, from plastering to plumbing to electrical works etc, etc. I have seen sewerage pipes exposed, running down from upstairs along the wall and disappeared back into the wall! Even some door frames were crooked but the door still fits! I am sure you can guess how! Am I right here? Do you people, especially fellow Malaysians agree with me?

This even happened lately to supposedly up market properties like Condominiums in the City Centre. My own brother had a rather nasty experience in one piece of low cost property he purchased nearly 8 years ago. It was so bad that the issue was highlighted in the local newspapers but as far as I know nothing was done and the people continued to suffer in agony over their pathetic homes. Can you imagine that handed over properties without water supply? The pipes and taps were there except no water supply! Residents had to get their daily supply from public taps on a daily basis and doing that for nearly 2 years! No wonder they took the matter up. I did not follow up and so do not have further facts of the case, whether there were any compensation, make good the faults etc. As far as I know, there were no Certificate of Fitness issued when owners took the keys to their new homes then. Surprise, surprise! Apa macam pun boleh jadi di-sini!

From observation, it seems that the middle and lower costs homes have more of such problems than the upper middle class or expensive houses! I guess these deviant developers dared not take on these educated and rich owners for fear of getting sued! It looks like they bully the poor because the poor could not afford the costly affair of bringing them to court. Many of these are hawkers or petty traders and they really do not have the time, a fear of and understanding of the intricacies involved in going to Court. Moreover they accepted it with disgruntled resignation, having a sense of being bullied, for if they do not move into the house, they might have to rent a place somewhere and this will be added expenses in addition to servicing their bank loans.

Lately there was a call for the Local Authorities to seriously look into incomplete housing projects! Yes you guess it, those lower cost apartments or flats. The developer had either absconded or gone bust, I am not sure but these poor people are still servicing the loans but with no home to expect or in view for many years! What a shame this is. It looked like the average income group and the poor have to suffer all these atrocities not due to any fault of theirs. Let’s hope that the Authorities, Banks and new Developers who undertake to revive these abandoned projects, can find a workable solution in order to alleviate the financial strain on the poor! Would love to see this happening soon! A challenge to the newly elected Opposition Coalition State Governments who proclaimed anti-corruption and serving the masses!