SEREMBAN: The 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) must provide monthly briefings to buyers of units at the Residensi Seremban Sentral project here, which has been delayed since September 2018, says the Negri Sembilan government.
State housing committee chairman Teo Kok Seong said the buyers must be kept updated on the project status as they had been waiting for years to move into their units.“This affordable housing project has been delayed for some time and I was told the buyers were promised delivery of the units a few times.“The buyers are already paying instalments and forced to rent units elsewhere,” he told reporters after meeting a group representing the buyers at his office here.
Teo, a senior state exco member, said work on the project started in October 2015 and PR1MA started selling the units from April 2018. In September 2018, the project was deferred to May 2020.
However, the project has continued to face hitches. In a statement on Monday, PR1MA said the project should be completed in the second quarter of 2023.
Residensi Seremban Sentral has 1,504 apartments priced at between RM268,000 and RM399,000. To date, 908 units have been sold.
Teo said although the project was under the purview of the Federal Government, he decided to intervene after his officers read the grievances of the buyers on social media.On its part, he said the state government would get the relevant agencies to speed up approvals for the certificate of completion and compliance (CCC) from the developer.“I was told by the Seremban City Council that it has yet to receive the CCC application. Instead of waiting, we are going to push the developer to speed it up without compromising on safety,” he said.
He also pledged to get the help of Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan, the Fire and Rescue Services Department, Tenaga Nasional and Indah Water Konsortium.
On a brighter note, Teo said he was happy to note that PR1MA had agreed to pay compensation to the affected buyers.
“I am told that a sum of RM1.3mil will be paid out. We will monitor this,” he added.
PR1MA stated that as at Feb 13, the project was 99.5% completed and attributed the delay to the previous movement control orders due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said the delays were also due to contractors facing a shortage of workers.
A total of 141 eligible buyers will receive compensation or Liquidated Ascertained Damages for the late delivery.
PR1MA and the contractor held a meeting with the buyers’ representatives on Feb 18 to brief them on the status of the project.
