Defects in the common area: Owners of Sabah condo win 10-year repair dispute

• Justice Ismail Brahim also ordered for a Joint Management Committee (JMC) to be set up with the owners of the condo “whereby two owners are nominated by the Protem Committee to be members of the JMC to manage all the affairs of the buildings, including the common property, the service fees fund and the sinking fund accounts”.

KOTA KINABALU (May 8): The High Court of Sabah and Sarawak yesterday settled a lawsuit over defects in the common area of the Peak Vista Condominium at Signal Hill besides the intercom system of both towers of the condo project that has been unresolved for over a decade.

According to a report by East Malaysia-based publication, Daily Express, Kota Kinabalu High Court Judge Justice Ismail Brahim ordered the developer South-East Best Sdn Bhd to do “the needful rectification on the defects based on the report procured by the developer itself and the report made by the Plaintiffs’ expert witness, Anthony Lee Tee from Architect Centre Sdn Bhd, associated with the Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM)”.  

Justice Ismail Brahim also ordered for a Joint Management Committee (JMC) to be set up with the owners of the condo “whereby two owners are nominated by the Protem Committee to be members of the JMC to manage all the affairs of the buildings, including the common property, the service fees fund and the sinking fund accounts”.

Meanwhile, the owners of Peak Vista Condominium called on the state government and Housing Ministry to work towards amending the law or adopting the Federal legislation to enable a JMC to be set up after the issuance of the Occupancy Certificate so that owners “can be more involved in the management and there is more transparency and accountability”, stated the report.

The Plaintiffs (a group of condominium owners led by Tan Kung Ming) were represented by Daphne wong and Cynthia Chang of Chang and Wong Partners while the Defendant (developer) was represented by Ronny Cham of Ronny Cham and Co.

In separate case in 2020 but also involving Peak Vista Condominium, the Sessions Court here found no misappropriation, dishonesty and/or fraud in handling the service fees funds by the defendant South-East Best in a suit filed by 12 owners of the condominium, reported Daily Express.  

Tan also said back then that he “hoped that the laws will change in the near future to allow unit owners to form committees with legal standing before the subsidiary titles are issued, so that unit owners will have a say in managing the service fees funds and other management matters”.

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