Errant developers and directors can be jailed and fined from March

Thursday, 24 November 2011 11:52

PETALING JAYA: Nearly 5,000 directors of housing development companies and over 1,000 developers have been blacklisted for various offences, including for delaying and abandoning their projects since 2007.

However, from March, those found guilty of these two offences may not only be blacklisted, but will also face jail sentences and fines.

Amendments to the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966, which are expected to be passed by the end of the current parliament session, propose a maximum three-year jail term and RM500,000 fine for developers who abandon their projects.

As of Nov 15, 1,308 developers and 4,703 directors of the companies concerned have been blacklisted by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

The amendments, however, will not be retrospective and only those who commit new offences will face criminal charges.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said: “We hope the amendments will be passed by the end of this parliamentary session for us to enforce them by March.

“The directors are also blacklisted to make sure they cannot set up another company and start a new project under a different name,” he told

The offences fall under four categories - failure to pay compound fines, abandoning of projects, involvement in “sick” or problematic schemes and non-compliance with the judgment of the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims.

Chor said blacklisted developers would not be issued a licence for any other project.

“However, they will be taken off the list once they salvage their project or settle whatever issues they face,” he said, adding that the list would be constantly updated to keep housebuyers informed.

It has been reported that the ministry had revived 83 of the 167 abandoned housing projects as of Oct 31, benefiting 9,278 buyers.

Chor said efforts were underway to rescue 62 abandoned projects.

Under Budget 2012, RM63mil was allocated to revive projects involving 1,270 houses.

From The Star