KUCHING: The Sarawak Housing Purchaser Claims Tribunal yesterday heard two cases against two different developers, both regarding late delivery and defects, resulting in one of them being ordered to pay RM2,453.34 to the house purchaser for delayed handover.
The hearing at the Old State Legislative Assembly Complex here was presided over by Peter Lim Thiam Seng and assisted by panel members Robert Elone Sireng and Simon Woon Ta Meng.
The first case involved claimant Kong Pei Shung over a single-storey terrace house at Muara Tuang Land District. Kong should have been able to occupy the house by July 25, 2018, based on the date of vacant possession handover. However, she claimed that she only knew of that date after she visited the office of the developer in May this year.
After deliberation, Lim ordered the developer to pay RM2,453.34 to Kong for late delivery, basing the calculation on available evidence. In addition, the developer had to rectify defects in the house.
“The payment has to be made within 45 days, and the defects liability period is 12 or 18 months,” stated Lim in a press conference after the tribunal proceeding. In the second case, the claim of Doris Melia Ranggau was denied by the tribunal as the panel reasoned that she had previously accepted a payment of RM14,340.50 from the developer.
“If someone has received payment and signed an acknowledgement agreeing not to make further claims, we are unable to do anything,” explained Lim after the hearing. However, the developer in this case still had to rectify the defects of the single-storey terrace house at Kuching Central Land District. The date of vacancy possession handover in Doris’ case was Jan 10 this year. During the hearing, Doris claimed that she had not moved into the house as the quality was unsatisfactory.
