Strong-Armed Tactics Used
to Bully Residents
by K.W. Mak, The Star, 8 January 2007
kwmak@thestar.com.my
Condominium, Apartment and High-rise Committee (CAHC) pro tem assistant
chairman Khong Chee Seng said there are many stories of management
committees (MCs) using strong-armed tactics to bully residents into
paying up the management fees.
One of the tactics employed is the clamping of water meters - a penalty
which some MCs have included in the in-house rules and regulations for
not paying management fees.
What many MCs do not take into account, however, is that Section 35 of
the Strata Title Act 1985 specifically states that condo residents have
the right to support, service and shelter, which includes access to
water, and that any attempt to clamp water meters is in violation of
the Act.
CAHC is trying to get around this deadlock by getting the Selangor
state government to legislate a law forcing MCs to hand over the water
meters to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas).
Syabas is willing to let condominium dwellers pay domestic rates, but
they must first control the meters, and they cannot take control of it
presently due to the ambiguity in the law on water meters governing
joint-ownership properties like condominiums.
Syabas has already submitted the proposal to the state government and
it would take some three months for the state government to implement,
if it agrees to such a suggestion.
Other tactics include lawyers' letters with threats of lawsuits.
Khong himself has been slapped with several lawsuits amounting to
RM5mil for fighting on behalf of condominium residents.
But residents are not the only victims here. Bungah Raya Management
Corporation secretary Somasundaram Venkates-waran said from his
experience, MCs use water clamping to enforce payment of arrears by
defaulters.
"Though this is certainly not a fair thing to do (access to drinking
water is a basic human right), it has been found to be a practical,
cost-effective and quick recovery method," said Venkateswaran.
"Legal recovery procedures are expensive and time-consuming. MCs may
have to wait a long time to obtain judgment from our courts, all the
more so with our appellate courts system.
"In the meantime, core services including corridor and car park
lighting and lift operations have to be disrupted or even stopped
altogether due to the lack of collections from owners. This will
obviously anger owners who are good paymasters who may also stop
payment until services are restored. It is a 'chicken and egg'
situation."