Perimeter wall collapses after thunderstorm

Looming danger: The perimeter wall of Ken Damansara 3 collapsed and the river retaining wall has also reclined.

A perimeter wall of the Ken Damansara 3 Condominium in SS2, Petaling Jaya collapsed onto the banks of Sungai Penchala on Saturday during an evening thunderstorm, sparking fears among residents over their safety.
A swathe of soil near the collapsed wall was exposed and the river’s retaining wall could also be seen leaning forward.
After receiving complaints, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) checked the site with its technical officers later that evening.
Councillor Tony Cheung said the matter was monitored closely by both the council’s engineering department and the state’s Drainage and Irrigation Department that was in charge of the area.
“The cause of the collapse has yet to be ascertained as we are still waiting for the report, which will be available within these two days,” he said.
Councilor K.W. Mak said there was no danger of the building or the bridge collapsing at the moment.

He said he had demanded for a full report from the relevant parties to know what was the real cause, whether it was only soil erosion or due to other reasons.
“Technically, a development should not be located so close to a river. I will request for the planning department to show me all the plans, I am not happy with what has happened,” he said.
He said the council would hold a technical meeting today to discuss repair works and work out the costs.
An officer from the condominium management, who was present at the site yesterday, declined to comment on the matter.

Residents express fear over LRT routes

THE residents of Putra Heights and Taman Subang Alam, have expressed concern over the proposed LRT extension route near their areas.

They feel the Selangor government should intervene to reassess the proposed route.

The proposed route which runs from Kelana Jaya will be extended to Subang Jaya and make its way to Putra Heights and Taman Subang Alam in Shah Alam with a station each.

Putra Heights resident Prem Kaur said the site identified for the 11th LRT station on the route was as close as seven metres from the double-storey terrace houses in the area.

Prem, who heads the LRT taskforce committee in the area, said the site was too near their homes.

“The granite soil in the area is also not strong enough to support the LRT’s concrete pillars in the future,” she said.

Prem said the group had sought assistance from disaster management engineer Dr Tajol Anuar to conduct a study on the proposed routes to get a clearer picture of how safe the site was.

“He (Tajol) studied the site and came up with a geology report stating that it is not viable to build the LRT on the terrain between stations 11 and 12 as it was dangerous and highlighted us a few points supporting the report,” said Prem.

Taman Subang Alam resident committee member Afideen Azali said the station to be built on their site will sit on Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s (TNB) Right of Way (ROW).

“I do not understand why Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) has chosen that spot when they know the danger of occupying land under TNB’s high voltage tension cables.

“There is also an old quarry lake near the site which is deeper than the homes in the area, hence he said the residents fear the walls around the quarry may crumble when piling works begin.

“ It is a disaster waiting to happen and when it does, it will be too late,” said Afideen.

He added they have been holding several meetings for the past two years and had even submitted a survey report by Merdeka Centre to the Mentri Besar but received no reply.

The residents hoped the Mentri Besar would look into the alternative route which Shah Alam City Council had came up with.

The route which is said to be 2.1km longer and will cost an additional RM500 mil is seen to be a better choice as it covers Section 27 and 28.

“Why waste more money to mitigate the quarry wall and strengthen the soil when you can choose other empty land in the area,” said Prem. During a meeting attended by Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei recently, both resident committees appealed to him to look into their woes and convey the message to the Mentri Besar.

“We are not against the project as we want LRT in the area. We just want it to be relocated to a safer location,” said Afideen.

Other property related news:

• MB: New quarries must have designated roads
• Gazans hold 'Land Day' protests

Task force to be set up to revive abandoned projects

THE Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) will set up a task force to accelerate the revival of abandoned projects.

Councillor Lee Kee Hiong who made the suggestion during the fullboard meeting yesterday, said there were more abandoned projects in areas under the council’s jurisdiction although only 11 were listed at the Selangor Housing and Property Board (LPHS).Left to rot: The abandoned project consisting of 19 houses in Taman Bukit Permai, Bandar Sungai Long, Kajang. — filepic

“Such project sites contribute to cleanliness and security problems,” she said.

In reply, an MPKj officer said it has a special unit to liaise with the Housing and Local Government Minister, LPHS and Selangor housing, building and squatters committee chairman Iskandar Abdul Samad.

Another councillor S.T. Chandra Mohan added that the task force would be set up to include councillors and officers from the building, planning and infrastructure departments to hasten the revival process.

“We’ll see how we can accommodate the planning requirements. It’s very difficult as liquidators need to take over the projects and buyers have to be prepared to pay more,” he said.

On the illegal recording of MPKj’s closed-door meeting in January, Chandra asked how to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

“According to the Standing Orders for Meetings, all meetings cannot be recorded.

“Are we supposed to screen everybody and stop them from bringing in handphones? How do we control this?” he said.

Fellow councillor Norsiah Md Noor suggested letting the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee to look into the matter.

Meanwhile, a proposed 34-storey serviced apartment development in Jalan Bukit, Kajang, has been put on hold pending the Traffic Impact Assessment and Road Safety Audit reports.

Chandra said the studies should be done at a macro level to take the whole area into consideration.

Councillor Ong Seng Peng enquired about the plans to tackle the problem of illegal car wash operators.

“Do we legalise them? If we don’t, they are still going to be around,” he said.

Chandra added that the council was supposed to finetune the guidelines as decided in the last meeting, and an MPKj officer admitted that it was still in progress.

On another issue, Lee suggested creating a position for deputy council president.

The council secretary also serves as the acting deputy president, but there are certain responsibilities which are out of his jurisdiction.

“For instance, he cannot chair the meetings in the absence of the council president (whose term ended in February),” she said.

As such, the fullboard meeting was chaired by councillor Mohamed Yusoff Bachek.

More property related news:

• Flyover needed to avoid Jln Balakong congestion
• MB: Investors in Selangor do not get incentives from state govt

How do you make money when there’s a property bubble?

There’s a definite price bubble growing in the real estate arena in Klang valley to say the least. With the reports from various financial dailies showing strong or overwhelming growth in the nation as well as new and bold land acquisitions by several large developers, things are definitely gearing up for 2011. Without doubt, more prime located properties will be launched, and the prices are definitely on the upside.

As a matter of fact, just the other day, I was at an auction for a residential property auctioned for RM500K. To my surprise, it looked more like a night market than a high court auction. Never have I seen so many people so anxious to plough their money into properties before. There were more than 30 people in the courtroom! What baffled me was that most of the properties in fairly good locations were bid up and bought at above market value prices! The property auction I attended went for RM800K. For the life of me, I cannot understand the rational behind their actions.

I also experienced and heard of similar cases in the secondary market. Just the other day, I stumbled across a good deal in the market. It was a small residential property in USJ that was going for a reasonably good price. When I showed up for the viewing, there were more than 15 prospective buyers and real estate agents cramped up in the living room of the unit! From my observation, property prices in several hot spot areas such as Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara, Bangsar, Subang, Petaling Jaya, USJ and Kota Kemuning, have increase by an average of 40% to 60% in the past seven months (since May 2010).

It’s true, the market is hot and it will only get hotter. Bank Negara’s implementation of the 70% capping on the loan-to-value (LTV) was in reaction to the tremendous increase in real estate transactions in the past six months. However, the question is, will it be enough to slow down the current market momentum?

The question one should ask is “What can a person do, in a situation like this?”

My response to this current situation can be split into two answers. The first answer is for those who currently own one or more properties, primarily for investment purpose. My answer to you is SELL. Run a check for the value of your property, both from the banks as well as from the market (i.e. you can ask your friendly real estate agents). Should the value achieve 30% or more appreciation value within the last two years or less, it is a good indication for you to consider a sale. If the rental rates are great, you might want to consider refinancing, so long as the cash flow remains positive. These are the best time for you to cash out from all the years of investing. Monitor the market well, depending on what type of properties you own and also what type of development you are experiencing in your location, you may want to find the best time within the next couple of months to let go of your property. I figured, within the next couple of years, the market will continue on an uptrend and cashing out during these times will be generally profitable.

For my second answer, if you have already sold all your properties, or don’t have properties to sell yet, then buy with caution. Invest into fundamentals, never on speculations. There are still opportunities in the market. With your ears on the ground, keep your feet firmly planted while shopping for properties. Keep a firm eye on the prices. The best reference is always the rental market. If you are going to buy property for investment purposes, you will need to either rent it out or sell. Selling prices are closely related to the rental prices as well, therefore, you always need to ask yourself “Who is going to rent your property and at what price?” Find out what the rental rates are like. With the exception of houses, a good benchmark for all residential investment grade properties is about 6% (or more) rental returns. The following is the formula to determine rental returns:

If a property cannot achieve such returns, i.e. the selling price is too high as compared to prevailing rental rates; it is definitely not a good idea to buy.

Let’s go back to the fundamentals. Besides rental returns, look out for the take-up rate of the properties in the surrounding areas and ask yourself, “Does it take too long for the tenants to fill up the space? Is there more demand or more supply of space in that area?” Also, who is your target market? Is it a growing or the numbers dwindling?

Regardless of whether you are busy selling or busy buying, start getting busy. The worst thing you could do right now is to freeze. Many are either sitting it out or just plain afraid to get into the market. These are probably the same people whom do not invest in the worst of times too. My question is, if in the good times, you do not invest, and in the bad times, you do not invest, then when do you?

I challenge you to make the best of things, in the best of times and in the worst of times. Happy investing!

Site of shops in Taman Pertama may be acquired for MRT project

Shop owners in Jalan 2/90, Taman Pertama, Cheras, are anxious after learning that the 37 units may be acquired for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Project.

Retiree Kong Ah Moy, 69, said the rental of their shop was a source of income in her old age.

“My husband and I have spent more than 20 years paying off the loan to own this shop and it came as a shock to us that the government wants to acquire this site,” said Kong.

She said they were told about the acquisition by their tenant, who saw the notice sent to the shop.

Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai said some notices were pasted on walls while some on tree trunks and some left in the individual units.

About 30 owners who attended a meeting said they wanted to keep their shops.

Tan said residents should also be consulted because having the Taman Bukit Ria station in the area would result in traffic congestion and haphazard parking.

“There will also be noise pollution and if they start putting up sound barriers all over the place, it will look awkward,” he said.

He said the Land Public Transport Commission (LPTC) should instead consider using the site of the Kuala Lumpur Velodrome, opposite the shops in Jalan Cheras.

“The velodrome has not been used since it was built for the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and the site is more suitable because there will be enough space for parking as well. The petty traders there will also benefit from having the station there.

Some of the shopowners also wanted a Traffic Impact Assess-ment (TIA) and Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed stations.

Tan said he would be holding another briefing at 10am on Sunday at the DAP headquarters in Jalan Yew for all residents and property owners who would be affected by the locations of the six MRT stations in his constituency.

He said 202 plots of land and buildings would be affected in Cheras where six stations (Cochrane, Maluri, Taman Bukit Ria, Taman Bukit Mewah, Leisure Mall, Plaza Phoenix) had been proposed.

Motorcycle shop owner Teh Sin Hock, 60, said he had spent almost 30 years building his business in the area.

“Even if they give us an attractive compensation or an alternative site, I would lose all my regular customers. Many of the businesses here have been around for a long time,” said Teh.

Last month, LPTC has issued a statement responding to similar concerns of Taman Tun Dr Ismail residents regarding land acquisition.

LPTC chief executive officer Mohd Nur Kamal had said the issue of land acquisition was governed by the Land Acquisition Act 1960 and the National Land Code and the Department of Director-General of Land and Mines (KPTG) was tasked with issuing notices pertaining to land acquisition.

“The procedures for land acquisition is for the KPTG to put up notices as close to the site as possible to inform the public that the area has been gazetted for acquisition.

“It is only after public feedback has been received and consultation undertaken with various bodies that the plots of land that may be acquired can be confirmed and the owners notified directly.

“In most cases, the actual area to be acquired will be much smaller. The procedure is the same for any piece of land that is to be acquired by the government.”

He said only after feedback was received through the public display period from Feb 14 to May 14 would a final decision be made on which particular plots of land would need to be acquired, if at all.

Penang to invest RM40m in SME centre

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government is investing about RM40mil for a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Centre in Bayan Lepas.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng told a press conference here that the building would be used for housing SMEs which faced space constraints.

Lim spoke at the opening of a one-day forum on development and financing for SMEs.

“The building will provide for these SMEs an environment conducive for upgrading and expansion.

“The rentals for space in the building will be attractive,” he added.

Construction for the building is expected to start this year and is scheduled for completion in two years.

Lim added that the state government was also looking at Batu Kawan as a potential site for setting up a SME Village or SME Cluster.

“The objective is to place all SMEs in a centralised location with international benchmarks,” he added.

On wages for factory operators, Lim said the basic pay for factory operators should be raised to RM800 from RM650. “This is to ensure that factories here get better quality workers,” he said.

Meanwhile, investPenang executive committee chairman Datuk Lee Kah Choon said the RM40mil building would have four storeys and a built-up area of 160,000sq ft.

“It can accommodate about 20 medium-size SMEs,” Lee said, adding that a tender would be called next week for the construction of the facility.