SUBSTANTIATING CLAIMS: Ahmad Sedik (centre) during the on-site visit with Esther (left) and the respondent.
KOTA KINABALU: The House Purchasers Claims Tribunal here yesterday ordered a housing developer to conduct an inspection on one of its apartment units in Menggatal on Dec 10, this year.
Tribunal president, Datuk Ahmad Sedik, also made an order for a report on the inspection and damage to the unit to be submitted to him at the latest by Dec 12, this year.
The claimant, Rasman Sabar, had filed claims stating that there are leakages of water in the kitchen of his unit that had persisted even after repairs by the management made in August.
“The water dripping from the kitchen ceiling comes from a toilet on the fourth floor. I live on the third floor. I complained once in August and after repairs, it is still leaking and is worse than before,” he said.
According to him, he noted that the leakage had still persisted in October, this year.
He said, the flooring of his unit also suffers from water damage because of leakage underneath and claimed that the sewage pipes outside his kitchen are exposed and leaking.
“The laminated floors of my unit are now cracked and expanded because of the moisture,” Rasman said, adding that even the main bedroom and second bedroom had a problem of water leakage.
However, he said that he had only filed a written complaint to the respondent last week but had made numerous oral complaints before that.
In rebuttal, the respondents said that they had tried to make an appointment with the purchaser to inspect his home, and remarked that they have only received the formal complaint from the claimant last week and assured that they will conduct the repairs.
Amongst other complaints that Rasman filed was that he was dissatisfied with the library facilities offered to residents of the apartments. Rasman also mentioned that, as a purchaser, he was not informed of the courtyard being replaced with a children’s playground.
He expressed concern over the current children’s playgrounds close proximity to a swimming pool, citing it as dangerous for the kids visiting the playground.
The claimant also questioned the RM5 fee, on top of a RM105 maintenance fee, which he regarded as unnecessary and a surcharge.
To this, the tribunal president ordered for the RM5 to be included as part of the maintenance fees to avoid further confusion and advised that the playground should not be located next to a swimming pool.
Another claimant, Nismah Kadir, made a similar complaint against the developer for water leakage on her unit’s ceilings.
Nismah lodged a formal complaint with the apartment’s management on Dec 17, 2012 and was expecting a call from the respondents after two weeks but did not receive any call.
In response, the developer acknowledged that they received the complaint in December. However, they have tried frequently to contact Nismah but her number was unreachable.
For Nismah’s case, Sedik ordered for the inspection and repairs on Nismah’s unit to be made within three weeks of the hearing date.
Earlier, Datuk Ahmad Sedik and House Purchasers’ Claims Tribunal secretary, Datin Esther Lee, made a site visit to the apartments in question together with the aggrieved parties and the respondent. He made the call for the on-site visit in view of the 200 cases that has lodged against the respondent.