Penang Watch

CoB appointments on councils should be full-time (Sun)
PETALING JAYA mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman recently urged that local council presidents and mayors be relieved of the Commissioner of Buildings (CoB) appointment. This was supported by Subang Jaya Municipal Council president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan and Kajang Municipal Council president Datuk Hasan Nawawi Abd Rahman (The Star Aug. 5, 2008).

This public appeal was not only rare, but also out of character of local council presidents or mayors. Indeed, some might see this as inappropriate since the appointment of local council chiefs to be CoB was the brain-child of the federal government and implemented by the state governments.

On the contrary, they should be commended for speaking out. Although they are seconded from the civil service, as heads of governments, albeit the lowest tier, they should voice out their opinion if something is not working effectively.

More importantly, their appeal should be considered seriously. The post of CoB is a very recent creation following the enactment of the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (BCPMM Act) to institute a systematic procedure in the maintenance and management of properties with strata land titles. This is the result of numerous complains about very poor management, including cheatings by property developers which used to manage their projects long after completing them.

CoB is to implement the BCPMM Act and Parts VI and VII of the Strata Title Act. This basically involves ensuring that entities that manage strata-titled properties, be they Joint Management Bodies (JMB) or Management Corporations (MC), function according to the law and maintain proper accounts and property owners fulfil their obligations. For instance CoB has authority to institute actions against errant office bearers of JMB and MC and property owners who refuse to pay maintenance fees.

In other words, CoB plays a very important role in the quality of life of millions of people living and working in multi-storied apartments, shopping centres and most gated communities. The interests of the owners of such properties are also involved.

As such, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government should be commended for the enactment of BCPMM Act. However, while there might be legitimate reasons to appoint presidents or mayors of local authorities to be CoB, it is now clear that this is ill advised.

Even though the functions of local authorities have diminished since the last decade or so and about to be reduced further with the implementation of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act and the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Corporation Act, there are still a lot on their plates. More significantly, they are still not able to handle effectively their responsibilities as stated in the Local Government Act, The Town and Country Planning Act, The Street, Drainage and Building Act and other acts and by-laws.

Indeed, many local councils are not even able to maintain their finances properly. They have not carried revaluation exercise for many years when the law allows them to do so once in five years. Furthermore, almost all have huge arrears in the collection of rates. Making the situation worse, using valuation officers to assist the CoB, as is done in some local councils, only diverts resources from the department’s primary responsibilities. It is understood that the ministry has posted some officers to the local authorities. While this helps, but is inadequate. The responsibilities of CoB require assistance of permanent officers who know accounts, law and most importantly, property management.

CoB does have a lot to do. The major local authorities have hundreds of strata-titled projects each and the number is growing. Complicating matters, some leaders of JMB and MC are not well-versed about their roles and responsibilities and power can lead to misuse of positions and funds. They need help and supervision and errant ones must be reprimanded or punished.

Making things worse, many strata-titled property owners and occupiers are not well aware of their responsibilities or just do not care. Many owners do not pay their maintenance fees promptly. Many tenants treat common facilities as punching bags to vent frustrations and then complain about poor management. A part-time CoB is inadequate. It is a full-time job with full compliments of staffs.

The appointment of full-time CoB should be an agenda in the coming meeting of the National Council for Local Government. This, of course, does not mean that the Pakatan Rakyat state government representatives should postpone their commitment to pursue the issue of local government elections.

Dr Goh Ban Lee is a retired academic interested in urban governance, housing and urban planning. Comments: feedback@thesundaily.com.