Developer: We have been victimised by state policy

The developer of Casa Gemilang in Sungai Pusu, Gombak said they have been victimised by the policy of state government, resulting in the project being delayed.

Gemilang Excel Holdings Sdn Bhd administrative manager Azman Rosdi said the company was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He said the state government had approved the development but it was also one that contributed to the delay factor, thus causing the chain of events.

In July 2006, the developer was slapped with a stop-work order following a landslide in Kampung Pasir.

The order was issued to all development near hillsides, which affected Desa Gemilang and Casa Gemilang.

“We held a series of meeting with the state because we had to meet our deadline by 2008 for the project, but the state upheld its policy. We told them that we buyers are bound by an agreement to about 200 but in the end we had to comply with the order.

“In 2009, we made an appeal and the stop-work order was revoked. We resumed work on the site but the banks did not want to pay the progress claims because of the economic crisis and they said the project was not viable.

“We could not resume construction without any payment, so we had issued a notice to terminate the sale and purchase agreement (S&P) to some of the property buyers.

“The 40% of disbursement money had already been used for site clearing, earthworks and piling. We are still here trying to find a solution to this,” he added.

Azman said the buyers were offered a refund for the project but they had to terminate the earlier S&P.

“We contacted the buyers to sign the Deed of Rescission, which some signed, and the money will be reimbursed within 24 months. We have not received any offer from the state government or agencies pertaining to the project; they told us to just fix the problem,” he said.

Azman also clarified the issue of building on agricultural land, stating that they had filed an application simultaneously to change the land status to residential and bordering under the Land Code Section 124A for Gombak district to the Selangor Land Office in October 2005.

He said if people conducted a search on the status now, the land would still be classified as agricultural because the change would be applicable only when individual titles were given out.

“We have paid the premium for the land and the state government then had approved the change of land usage on Nov 29, 2004. Everything has been done according to the law.

“As for the encroachment into the buffer zone, that was for us to carry out slope-stabilising work and the developer’s land and the reserve were bordering each other.

“We had written to the Forestry Department for permission but no response was ever given even after nine months of waiting, so we went ahead with the works as it was the monsoon season,” he said.

At present, Azman said the company was looking for interested parties who wanted to buy over the project but it had to be done accordingly.

By The Star