Local councils prefer independent body to handle JMBs

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/8/5/central/20080804215449&sec=central

ALL mayors and local council presidents are de facto Commissioners of Buildings (CoB).
Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman, however, feels that there should be an independent body to handle the formation of joint management bodies (JMBs).
At present, the CoB functions through the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) property management and assessment department.
“The responsibility should not be placed in the hands of the local authorities. We need employees who are trained in this issue to handle the workload,” Roslan said.
For example, he said the council accounting team would have to audit the accounts of the condominium before a certificate for a JMB is issued.
“Our legal team also has to work on it on top of the other council related matters that they have to attend to,” Roslan said.
Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan said so far, there were 212 condominiums with strata titles and 80 JMBs in the municipality with 36 cases still pending.
“We don’t have a special department to handle the JMB issues. We have to re-deploy employees to work on it,” Adnan said.
However, there is one accounting personnel from the federal government helping the MPSJ employees.
Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) president Datuk Hasan Nawawi Abd Rahman agreed that there should be an independent body appointed as the CoB.
“There are many problems relating to the formation of the JMBs and it is hard for the local authorities to concentrate on them because we have other issues that we should be working on,” Hasan said.
Meanwhile, Local Government, Research and Studies Committee chairman Ronnie Liu said the state government was still studying the proposal to relieve the local authorities of the responsibilities of the CoB.