OF late, much has been said about the improved government delivery system.

Praise from the public aside, due credit has also been given to all the dedicated government officers by the prime minister on many occasions, the last during the Jan 7 monthly gathering of his ministry in Putrajaya.

This was followed by the interview with the Selangor menteri besar in which he explained how he had weeded out non-performing government “dead wood” in his departments.

He mentioned that many more had been transferred or barred from further promotion.

However, I don’t think anyone has replaced the rotten officials with good ones as far as the issuance of strata titles is concerned.

The non-issuance of strata titles is affecting hundreds of thousands of house owners who have been waiting in vain to get their titles for the last 15 or 20 years.

These are the “waiting periods” for strata titles: Palm Court, Brickfields — 20 years; Taman Miharja I, Maluri — 16 years; Taman Miharja II, Maluri — 15 years; Chancellor Condo, Ampang — 12 years; and Vista Komanwel, Bukit Jalil — 11 years.

There are many other owners in this dilemma.

I am sure many affected owners perceive this delay as a ploy by officers whose non-action helps facilitate a thriving business in maintenance-fee collection yearly by the management corporations of the apartment or condominium blocks.

Once the strata title is issued to the house owners, the various elected house owners committees can take over the management and maintenance of their respective apartment or condominium blocks, thereby forcing the management corporations out of business.

If the certificate of fitness is promptly given out to apartment or condominium projects, a waiting period of not more than two years for the strata title would be understandable.

But for anyone to get the title only after 15 or 20 years is unheard of anywhere else in the world.

Furthermore, without strata titles, house owners (with a clean title and without any housing loan) encounter greater difficulties in disposing of their property. They have to run around to obtain the consent of the various government departments.

This may take more than a year and may cost them several thousand ringgit.

To avoid possible corrupt practices, can any government officer enlighten the public on the type of approvals that need to be obtained and how much it costs to get each one?

If the developer of such a property is liquidated and in receivership and another company is appointed by the government, must he pay an additional amount to this particular company for the consent as well?

Without proper guidelines, unscrupulous agents can fully exploit the situation to their own advantage, thereby damaging the good name of the departments involved.

Source: NST – January 29, 2008