A Positive Note

Court rules in favour of Medan Putra residents to form Joint Management Body
By STEVEN DANIEL


RESIDENTS and the Joint Management Body (JMB) of Medan Putra Condominium in Bandar Manjalara can now breathe a sigh of relief after a court decision ruled in their favour against the developer, said Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng.

He said the residents claimed that the condominium when run by the developer for almost eight years, was dirty, had poor security, faulty lifts and cracked walls.

“To solve their woes, the residents formed a Joint Management Body (JMB) in June 23, 2008 to take over the management of the building but was stopped by a court injunction by the developer,” he said.

Medan Putra JMB spokesman Gary Chan said the JMB was sanctioned on April 14. 2008 by the Commissioner of Buildings.

The JMB was registered on June 22, 2008 but the developer failed to attend a meeting with the residents even after sufficient notice was given.

Chan said High Court decision on Aug 10 clarified that under Section 4(1)(a) of the Building and Common Property (Maintaince and Management) Act 2007, the existence of the Management Corporation (MC) in April 12, 2007 does not relieve the developer of its mandatory obligation to establish a JMB

“To put it succintly, a developer must set up a JMB before forming a Management Corporation, otherwise it is considered illegal and a new JMB must be formed.

He said some developers tried to challenge the new Act because they refused to hand over control of the management to the residents because the money collected for maintenance was lucrative.

Meanwhile, the developer of the project, Debir Desa Development Sdn Bhd said they would be appealing for a stay at the Appeals Court on Oct 1.

Its director, Lim Khoon Ong, said they sought for a judicial review on several sections within the Building and Common Property (Maintaince and Management) Act 2007 (also known as Act 663) because they had other interpretations of the legislation.

“Under normal circumstances, most councils won’t consent to the formation of a JMB after MC is formed but in our case, the Commissioner of Buildings (COB) recognised JMB.

“This was the main reason why we challenged the COB and JMB as well as seek a clarification from the court on how the new act works,” he said