GEORGE TOWN (Feb 18, 2014): A developer who has been accused by buyers of increasing the price of low-medium-cost flat units purchased in Bukit Gambier has been given seven days from today to resolve the issue.
Penang Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh said the developer was required to fix the purchase price at RM72,500 for the units.
“The developer should not charge a single sen more than the fixed amount, which has been agreed by the state government and the developer last December.
“Any further charges are to be imposed only if the buyers were willing to bear the additional expenses.
“The state does not tolerate any imposition of additional charges by force upon the purchasers,” he told a press conference today together with the developer’s representative, who was given a letter on the matter.
Last week, the unit buyer staged a protest at the state’s administrative office at the Komtar building, with one of them kneeling and appealing for the state government to intervene.
They had claimed the developer tried to impose a RM28,500 fee for a parking lot and a RM60,000 renovation package before they could move into their units, thereby pushing up the price to RM161,000, which they say they cannot afford to pay.
Meanwhile, a group of disgruntled commercial and residential unit buyers staged a demonstration outside a developer’s office in Jalan Macalister here today over the delay of a mixed-development project.
Book trader Noordin Ahmad, 53, said he was given the runaround when he asked for the completion date, adding that the RM1,500 monthly loan repayment is a burden.
“I still cannot move into my shoplot despite buying the unit in 2000,” he said when met during the protest.
The delayed project comprised a 38-unit apartment, 14 double-storey shoplots, 11 double-storey terrace houses and eight double-storey link houses costing between RM94,500 and RM275,000 in Balik Pulau, Jagdeep said the state was trying to get an explanation from the developer.
By: Edmund Lee
Source: theSundaily
Published on: Tuesday, 18 February 2014
THE CHAMBERS OF LEE & CHONG 