Kota Kinabalu: The PacifiCity Project Purchasers Welfare Association (P3WA) is disappointed that despite numerous police reports being lodged and the arrest of 40 suspects, the now abandoned project continues to be vandalised.
“The past few months, the interior of many of the Pacific Heights luxury apartments, comprising 204 nearly completed units, has been damaged,” said P3WA representative Dato’ Seri Winston Liaw.
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“Buyers are worried that sooner or later, the structure of the building will be destroyed, making it more difficult to find a white knight to take over,” Liaw said.
Pacific Heights
He said the vandals forced their way into the units even though the buyers had barricaded the building with wire mesh.
“I believe this is the first such case in Malaysia where an abandoned project has been so seriously destroyed.
“He acknowledged that hiring security personnel to guard the building should have been considered. But in the long-term this incurs high expenses that buyers cannot afford.
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“I advise the relevant parties if they were contractors who were not paid not to do this. If the developer owes money, you can negotiate it.
“I can help negotiate financial issues with the white knights who take over. Sabotage is a criminal act and perpetrators will be jailed if convicted,” said Liaw.
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He said he has been contacted by two white knights interested in taking over the project after it was declared abandoned.
Due to the increasing number of abandoned real estate projects in Kota Kinabalu, Liaw said he is planning to hold a forum in the near future to discuss the matter.
“This is to prevent Kota Kinabalu from becoming a hotspot for abandoned projects,” said Liaw.
P3WA had been anxiously awaiting the official announcement on the abandoned status.
They pointed out that despite the Minister signing the document, no official announcement was made that it is now an abandoned project, which resulted in commercial banks refusing to stop their loans and interest repayments.
Liaw said he discovered the project’s abandoned status through an inquiry he made to the Local Government and Housing Ministry.
The bank only accepted Liaw’s personal request to stop the loans and interest payments as the letter from the Ministry was addressed solely to him.
Liaw and other buyers have urged the Minister to issue an official statement to compel the banks to stop loan and interest payments.
He called on the State Government to amend the law and strengthen control over developers.
“Sabah should amend the law to protect the interests of buyers, restore buyers’ confidence in local properties, and enable the state’s real estate industry to develop healthily,” said Liaw.