Help us get land titles, residents plead to Azmin

Residents of a housing project in Ampang are seeking the help of Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali to speed up the process of obtaining individual land titles from their developer - a battle which has taken over 30 years for some.

Residents of some 447 households in Taman Kelab Ukay want Azmin to intervene, since he is also the assemblyperson for Bukit Antarabangsa, where the housing area is located.

"We have tried to meet with the developer but 'tak dilayan' (not given any attention); we have run out of options and that’s why we need Azmin Ali’s help.

"We don't just want to own our homes, but also the land (they are built on)," said Syed Zulkifli bin Syed Masir, pro tem president of the Taman Kelab Ukay Residents' Association (Takura) at a press conference in a surau near Taman Kelab Ukay yesterday.

Malaysiakini is withholding the name of the developer pending a response.

According to Syed Zulkifli, despite the fact that none of the owners of the freehold units have land titles, there is a new project by the same developer, comprising 600 units, which has been approved in the same housing area.

Over 50 residents attended the press conference yesterday, many of whom were the original buyers of the Taman Kelab Ukay houses.

Mazlan Mohamed Din, 67, bought his house 31 years ago.

“I signed the Sales and Purchase Agreement with the developer in 1986 but a year later they abandoned the project.

“Only in 1994 did they continue the project after obtaining funds from Bank Negara,” he said.

After finally obtaining the keys to his house, Mazlan tried to obtain his land title via appeals to various government agencies, but was given the run around, he claimed. 

Attempts to obtain answers from the developer also failed as the latter gave Mazlan only "empty promises", he added. 

Another resident of 25 years, who only wanted to be identified as Madam Lee, was disappointed with the lack of answers. 

“I have worked very hard to fully pay off my house, why should we not have our own home in our name? Our property is rightfully ours,” she said.

Takura committee member Surinder Singh said the developer was last year instructed to pay a RM12 million premium to the Shah Alam Land Office. after Taman Kelab Ukay residents reported that no application for sub-division of the land had been submitted. 

Once the premium had been paid, the land office would be able to register individual land titles for residents, but nothing had happened thus far. 

“But we doubt their commitment to pay because the May 17 deadline has been extended to July,” said Surinder.

'Manipulated to forfeit liquidated damages'

Noorihan bought her house in Taman Kelab Ukay as a 26-year-old and is now about to become a grandmother.

“In 1994, initial buyers like me were forced to forfeit liquidated damages in order to be given keys to our houses. We had to forfeit our rights (as housebuyers),” she claimed.

Liquidated damages refer to monetary compensation following a breach of contract. 

This claim was echoed by a fellow resident, who only wanted to be identified as Rosli, who bought his house in the 1980s.

“We were desperate to live here so we signed to forfeit the damages, and now we have no title to our homes as well.

“This is a developer who manipulates. The authorities should punish them,” he said.

Broken promises

“I bought the house because I was so drawn to the idea of being able to use the clubhouse, the marketing (campaign) was so good,” said Rosli, noting an original promotional poster for the project. 

The residential area was named Taman Kelab Ukay (Ukay Club Garden) because the developer had built a clubhouse for residents to use, Rosli explained.

“However since 2008, the clubhouse has been rented to Prudential to be used as a training academy. Residents can’t use it anymore,” he said.

Baldev Singh, a fellow resident, felt strongly about this as well.

“We have been deprived of the clubhouse facilities. We don’t even have access to it,” he said.- Mkini