In recent poll in my blog, it show that MSL is the best developer in Setapak which 60% support MSL as the BEST.
Federation of Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore formed Malaysia on 16th September, 1963. Later Singapore left to become an independent country. Sarawak and Sabah is a special autonomous state within Malaysia which many parts of the administration are under the jurisdiction of state government.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim win the Permatang Pauh by-election with a majority of 15671 votes, which is 17% higher than 308 election win by his wife (13388 votes). He will be the opposition leader in Parliment after swearing in soon (hope to be next day), and may become 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Congratulation to Datuk Christopher Wan appointment to EC member. His no nonsense character, clean records during PDRM service will definitely benefiting to Malaysia as a whole.KUALA LUMPUR: Former Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee has been appointed a member of the Election Commission, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan announced in a statement yesterday.
Mohd Sidek said the appointment of Wan, 57, had received the consent of the King.
Wan retired from the police force on Jan 9 last year and was reappointed Criminal Investigation Department director on a contract basis for one year, from Jan 10 last year till Jan 9 this year. – Bernama
At the very beginning let me explain the basic principles behind the decisions of the JMC with regards to the parking. Firstly, we view that owners and residents have sole exclusive rights to their purchased and allocated lots under their unit within the ambit of the house rules. Secondly, it is also the owners and resident rights to decide who they want to allow to use on their own parking lots subjected to informing beforehand this arrangement to the management and conforming to the house rules. This is to set the records straight that we do not dictate nor have any policies with regards to the owners car lots which is legally their properties under the S&P Agreement.
We will now then address the issue of visitor car park lots which is for visitors of the owners and residents. Originally, the developer has allocated all visitors car lots to be on the ground floor. This was actually a sound idea and you can see this is so because all the intercom phone for visitors to contact the owners was situated on the G floor of each block. With this, the visitor can contact the owner/residents and the owner/resident can unlock the door for their visitor to access. This helps to keep the security tight. Further to that, all the covered parking lots (P1-P4) is supposed to be strictly for owners/residents and this was again why these intercom was not put on these doors of these floors. This again is a sound idea and practised by most high end condominium in Klang Valley with the nearest example, Seri Maya down the road from us.
However somewhere in between, the developer decided to sell off these excess lots in the condo and they put a higher premium on the car parks on G floor. As a result, quite a large number of lots was sold off with some remaining unsold. Then, to compensate for the “loss” of visitor car park, the developer then assigned some car park lots on P1-P4 as visitor car park lot to make up for that numbers. When the JMB was formed, these “assets” were then handed over to us and for us to manage. So, now, on G floor, we have a few lots near the guard house as visitor car park lots and then a few more isolated single lots around the rest of G floor which makes the whole idea of managing a visitor car park lot a real headache. For example, how do a new visitor knows that there are more visitor car park lots on G floor unless he slowly drive around to look for a red car park lot which is a designated visitor car park .
Secondly, once the G floor visitor car park lots are taken up (normally in the evening or the weekend), then, visitors has to park on P1-P4 where designated. This becomes a security nightmare and also a problem for visitor as when they approach the doors on P1-P4, with no intercom and no access cards, and no idea where the next staircase can bring them up to the ground floor – they have no choice but to call the owners to come down and “escort” them up again. This do not befit a decent condo and hence still remain a problem which we inherited from the developer.
The third but very pressing problem which still exist today is the abuse of the parking privileges. Firstly, there are owners/residents who has more cars than their allocated or combined purchased lots. For eg, an owner has two car park lots but has three cars. Therefore, two of his cars are parked legally and the third car is parked illegally within the condo compound. This can be done by declaring the car is staying overnight or he park on a unused owner car park lot. Or he park on someone lot and then when found out, he move that car to another lot. The end results is, all these actions are illegal and not conforming to the house rules. More importantly, it is wrong because, there are people here who paid 15,000 -20,000 MYR for their extra car park and they would feel cheated if this is allowed.
More to this point is, later when the LRT opens up in 2009, we may find people who allow their friends or relatives to park their car within Desa Putra for free to enjoy the facility and access to the LRT station. So, in order to prevent that, we have to come up with policies to address such issues.
Now, in line with this, I have to inform all readers of this blog the situation we are facing now. Firstly, our current maintenance fees is INSUFFICIENT to run the place decently. Our balance sheet for the remaining part of this year will go into deficit (for eg, our current electric bill for the common areas is around 23-25K per month. This constitute around 30% of our collected maintenance fees. Under the new revised electricity tariff , we projected that the bill can go up to 30K in the next invoice, so it will rise to almost 40% of our maintenance fees). As one of the conditions for choosing Burgress Rawson to manage this place, one main consideration was their experience in turning over properties with deficit to a surplus within a few years on their track record. This means, we put the onus on them to help us turn this place firstly doing our best not to increase any maintenance fees for the owners/residents. Therefore, one key option is to generate as much revenue from our “assets” which includes of course the parking lots. By having these additional incomes, we can offset the need to charge a higher fees to the residents or if we do so, we can reduce the quantum needed due to these additional incomes generated. So, for this reason, please view these rental rates of the car park lots as simply means for us to help all owners/residents in meeting our budget and keeping it from going to a deficit.
Therefore in view of that, the JMC has to formulate policies based on these few issues :
1. We have car park abuse problem where people misused or park their cars illegally – this is wrong and not acceptable.
2. We formulate a rental lot program where people can rent the car park legally and therefore do not park illegally or obstruct or cause chaos in the parking lots
3. These rental lots can also then generate income for the building maintenance fees instead of sitting there empty ie maximising the facilities to generate income
4. The JMC also formulate policies where visitors can park for a day visit at the G floor parking lot subjected they leave by 12.30am for security reasons
5. If for some reasons the visitor decided to stay overnight (have too much to drink, too late to drive back), the owner can inform the guard house and the pass can then be changed to an “overnight visitor pass” which then allows the car to park in that visitor lot overnight. This privilege is only for a day. For those cars which do not have it, the car will be clamped after 12.30am.
6. For visitors who comes on a short term visit (for eg, relative visiting, parents visiting etc) – they can apply to the management and the management will allocate them a special car park lot on P1-P4 for that duration of the visit. This will not be charged as the JMC view this as facilities for the convenience of the owners/residents. The maximum duration of stay is up to 2 weeks and if longer for valid reasons, the management office will decide on a case by case basis. Those previous case who has paid 5 ringgit per day will be refunded as we have now fine-tuned this policy.
7. The JMC views that those parking done for eg if the friend is coming over to park the car at the condo and then going somewhere with the owner/resident to somewhere else (overseas trip for eg) will be viewed as parking with fees. The management office will then charge a sum for that duration with the main intention to simply discourage this practise. However in order to discourage abuse, the fees charged will be higher than the monthly rental fees of that car park lot, so, those who feel they can abuse this will find it pointless financially to do so. However if the owner has an empty second lot, is is up to the owner to allow the friend or visitor to use his extra lot as explained earlier above.
8. We will “persuade” the cars who are parking outside around the roundabout to take up the offer to rent a car lot and park legally within Desa Putra. This is also in view that DBKL has written to inform us that they will soon tow away cars which are parked around illegally around the roundabout and the access roads as this is their land and secondly, they have received direct complaints from residents who find this parking on both side of the road extremely dangerous. So while the cars are given a grace period to move to somewhere permanently, we formulate the policy to address this issue and the management will issue a special “Merdeka” offer for them to take up the car rental lots inside Desa Putra. Failing which, one of the days after August or towards end of August, they may find their car missing and in the DBKL car compound ground and the hassle to go there to claim back their cars.
Despite JMC decided to rent out the car parks to residents but not many residents willing to rent and park their car inside the complex. The monthly fees charged for covered car park is RM100 per month, and non covered is RM80, no deposit required, just need to pay quarterly in advance plus some deposit for access card.
Most house owners/residents never read the house rules, therefore it shall be the JOBS of Management to highlight the critical rules in notice board and other noticeable location. This will avoid many unnecessary argument or even "fighting" with security guards.
| MEETING AGENDA | |||||||||||||
| 1. Amendment, acceptance and adoption of previous Minutes of Meeting | |||||||||||||
| All the meeting members had read through, understood and agreed with the contents of the pervious Minutes of Meeting without any correction or addendums. The previous Minutes of Meeting “Referral Code: JMC-2-08 was therefore dully adopted and has taken effect. | |||||||||||||
| 2. Certificate of Establishment of JMB | |||||||||||||
| The Chairman informed the meeting that the Certificate of Establishment of JMB was issued by COB on 6th June 2008 and collected on 12th June 2008. The Chairman expressed thanks and appreciation to the Developer, Landserve, Proterm Committee members and present JMC members for this success. | |||||||||||||
| Agenda topics | |||||||||||||
| 1. Statement of Income and Expenditure As At 30 April 2008 | |||||||||||||
| The abovementioned Statement prepared and presented at the meeting by Landserve was incorrect and therefore not accepted by the JMC. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| To produce statement as at 31st May 2008 | Landserve | ASAP | |||||||||||
| 2. Sinking Fund (SF) | |||||||||||||
| The meeting has confirmed billing and payment of sinking fund as follows : - The billing from Nov 2007 till June 2008 issued by Landserve to remain and be accepted. - All Sinking Fund payments for period of Nov 2007 till June 2008 to be transferred to JMB’s Sinking Fund Account | |||||||||||||
| 3. Maintenance Fees Paid to Developer Prior to November 2007 | |||||||||||||
| The meeting voiced that maintenance fees paid by owners prior to November 2007 included both Maintenance Fee and Sinking Fund and the accounts should reflect this. A portion equivalent to 10% of the total maintenance fees collected per month from Vacant Possession till Nov 2007 to be apportioned to the Sinking Fund and the surplus into the Building Maintenance Fund. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| Yip took note of this proposal and will inform Developer | GQA | Before 30th June ‘08 | |||||||||||
| 4. Parking System - Rental Fees/Visitors’ Parking/Colour Code | |||||||||||||
| The meeting has discussed and agreed on the following : Rental Fees & Procedures - RM100.00 per month for Covered (P1 to P4) - RM80.00 per month for Open areas (P3 & P4) - Advance Three (3) months rental to be paid - No deposit will be collected - Parking card chargeable at RM30.00 Note : For owners/residents who have paid, excess monies will be carried forward to next rental payment. Visitors’ Parking Will be assigned to Ground Floor only. On occasions where visitors’ bays are full at Ground Floor area, visitiors will then have to park outside. Colour Code Visitors’ Bays - RED Owners’ & Rented Bays - YELLOW Policy for Overnight & Short Stay Parking Due to the time constrain in the current meeting, this topic will be discussed in the next JMC meeting | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| - To inform Residents of Confirmed Parking Rates & Ruling - To recheck/repaint all parking bays to the right colour code - To inform residents who have already paid the rental that any excess of payment will be carried forward to the next rental payment | Mr. Arif | Immediate | |||||||||||
| 5. “Existing Activities” Happening Without JMC’s Approval | |||||||||||||
| The following activities are currently taking place without JMC’s approval : - Car Wash services by Mr. Suresh - Swimming Instructor The Chairman informed the meeting that there has to be a policy with rules and regulations for service providers to adhere to whether the respective services generates income or done on goodwill basis. The meeting agreed that a policy be drawn up and the abovementioned current providers (Mr. Suresh and the Swimming Instructor to write in officially to the Management to register their services). With immediate effect all new service providers are required to register with the Management who will then seek the approved from JMC. The Management has to keep a good record of the service providers and the day to day activities. No service providers are allowed to carry out any activities without the prior consent of the JMC. Service and facilities provided are only for Desa Putra Residents only, Non Residents are prohibited from using the facilities of Desa Putra. Should the above service providers are operating with the approval from JMC, its particulars and type of service should be published in the Notice Board instead of letting the service providers to distribute their business card in the mail boxes. (OK – Stephen) Stringent terms & conditions have to be drawn up for strict compliance by the service providers (OK – Stephen) To allocate a designated car wash area instead of mobile from car to car for easy control of workers who may be a potential burglar once they familiar with the building. Can drop paragraph this as decision was made further down | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| - To confirm on policy ruling - To inform Mr. Suresh to register and that a monthly fee to be paid for usage of water. - To inform Swimming Instructor to register. | JMC Landserve Landserve | ASAP Immediate Immediate | |||||||||||
| 6. Car Wash – Rulings | |||||||||||||
| Car Washing (Designated Area) – Identified and confirmed at Level P3 (near TNB Room) Cleaning Methods : - Wet wiping only is allowed to be carried out at individual parking bays (no wetting of floor areas) - Washing with wetting of area is allowed only at the designated car wash area at Level P3 | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| To check daily that residents and Car wash service provider adhere to ruling | Landserve | Immediate | |||||||||||
| 7. Security | |||||||||||||
| 8. Principles and Policies of Rental Areas/Lots | |||||||||||||
| The meeting discussed and agreed on the following for the abovementioned : - Priority of rental for business to be given to Owners and Residents. In the event that offer is not taken up by owners and residents, offer will then be open to Non-residents - A base rental rate (reserved price) of Ringgit Malaysia One (RM1.00) per square foot is applicable and chargeable for the rental areas/lots. - The meeting has identified and suggested the following type of business to be operated at the rental areas/lots (for the convenience, usage and benefits of Residents) - Convenience Store - Hair Salon - Reflexology Centre - Children Nursery - Laundrette (*) The Proprietor (prospective tenant) of the Laundrette who leased the area from Developer has not started operations to date. In this scenatio, the JMC will discuss with the Proprietor (prospective tenant) to get his confirmation on getting the business started or if otherwise, to withdraw the rental and the area be leased to another party. (JMC to review the salient points in the letter of offer prepared by Developer before getting the tenant in to start operation or to enter into a fresh tenancy agreement vetted and prepared by the professional MA to avoid tenant taking advantages from the Common Property – decision will be made in August under the new property management. JMC Room - There is a need for a JMC room and an area needs to be identified. Due to time constrain this issue will be reviewed further and discussed at the next JMC meeting. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| To (review and) adopt contract (agreement) samples already adopted by other condos (similar ranking as Desa Putra) | Landserve to source for sample of contracts | Immediate | |||||||||||
| 9. Rectification Schedule for Defects & Outstanding Works | |||||||||||||
| Yip informed the meeting that some progress on the Defect List have been carried out. The JMC Chairman will set a date for a technical meeting to address the issues based on the list to be submitted by the developer. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| Date to be confirmed for meeting between JMC Technical/Defects Sub Committee and Developer | JMC Chairman | ASAP | |||||||||||
| 10. List of Works to Developer To Make Good (On Goodwill Basis) | |||||||||||||
| The Meeting informed Yip that it will come up with a list of works for the Developer to make good/rectify on goodwill basis. Yip has taken note of this and asked Chairman to draw up the list. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| To submit list to Developer | JMC | ASAP | |||||||||||
| 11. Statement of Accounts | |||||||||||||
| The meeting was informed that the 2007 Audited Account from the Developer indicated that the Desa Putra Building Management Account owes an amount of RM600,000 plus to the Developer ( or the developer had advanced an amount of approx. RM600,000 to Desa Putra Building Maintenance Account) – this part can be removed and we let MSL clarify this point in the next meeting as the accounts simply indicate amount owe and not the reasons why. . The JMC has requested that a breakdown of the amount owing (advanced) be shown and proven. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| Breakdown of Amount Owing to be given to JMC | Developer | ASAP | |||||||||||
| 12. Opening of Desa Putra JMB Bank Account | |||||||||||||
| The Chairman informed the meeting that a Desa Putra JMB Bank Account will be set up. The meeting agreed that the DP JMB Bank Account be opened at Maybank, Wangsa Link Branch. 3 accounts under 2 types of fund to be opened will be : - Building Management Fund Account (current account) - Sinking Fund Account (current account and fix deposit account) In the last minutes JMC-2-08 it was agreed that the signatories for the DP JMC Bank Accounts will be the Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. Yip informed that in line with COB’s regulations, the Developer as one party of the JMC will need to be shown as one of the signatories. In this aspect (respect), the meeting agreed that the Developer will be added in as one of the signatories. The Chairman and Treasurer will get the DP JMC accounts opened by the week of 16th June 2008. The meeting informed that it would be a good gesture from the Developer to give the 1st cheque for the opening of DP JMC Account with a cheque of RM313,775 (this amount is insufficient as initial deposit for even one account, they need RM2,000 per account) (the surplus amount shown in the 2007 Audited Accounts). Yip took note of this request. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| Opening of DP JMC Bank Account at Maybank, Wangsa Link Branch | JMC Chairman/ Treasurer | By week of 16 June 2008 | |||||||||||
| 13. Appointment of New Property Management | |||||||||||||
| In view of poor service rendered by Landserve in managing Desa Putra, the contract was not renewed. The Chairman informed the meeting that interviews have been conducted with 4 Property Management companies namely : - KJ Property (formerly Khong & Jaafar) - Burgess Rawson (RW) - HoKaWai - Allied Group The (Chairman) briefed the meeting on the interview presentations given by the respective companies. After discussion and with views given by the JMC members who attended the interviews, it is agreed that HoKaWai and Allied Group will not be considered. The decision was to appoint either Burgess Rawson or KJ Property. After much deliberation and based on the views from all members present, it was decided and agreed that Desa Putra’s budget is insufficient to engage Burgess Rawson and therefore by this elimination (any efforts done to negotiate down the fee?) , KJ Property will be the new property agent for Desa Putra (is the fee quoted comprehensive? Any hidden costs?). The Chairman informed that the commencement date for the new property agent will be 1st July 2008. This timeline is important in the effect that the next maintenance & sinking fund billing period starts on July 2008. It is important that the New Agent generates the billing and that collection goes directly into the JMC’s accounts. Comments : it is the right timing to effect the handing over on 1 July 2008? Does JMC allow sufficient time for KJ to interphase (free professional fee period) with Landserve? I know that we are frustrated with Landserve, but would it be fair to Landserve for such a short notice to quit and their staffs as they would not be able to get a new job unless KJ recruit them? How ready is KJ to generate billing for July to Sept? Why don’t we ask Landserve to generate billing for the said period so that the JMC as well as Kj would have sufficient time to make themselves ready for the new assignment? So long as the bank account is opened under the name of JMB, I foresee no problem for KJ to take over. JMC may discuss this arrangement with KJ. It is advisable to have a proper documentation of the appoint of Managing Agent (MA) which shall specify the shortcomings of the existing MA and the reasons for appointing the new MA from financial prospective to technical. A summary of proposals received and views & comments from JMC members should be compiled. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| a. JMC to write officially to Developer on the appointment of new property agent. b. Lau to meet with KJ Property to further negotiate on fees c. Robin to visit 2 properties (equivalent to DP’s standard) managed by KJ Property d. If fees are agreed upon, Stephen & Lau to meet KJ to confirm terms and conditions of Letter of Appointment | Stephen/Time Lau Robin (Stephen & Lau) | By week of 16/6/08 As above As above As above | |||||||||||
| 14. Integration (Interphasing) Between Landserve & New Managing Agent | |||||||||||||
| The Developer is requested to assist in ensuring that the transition period during the changeover of management be carried out as smoothly as possible with no compromise on the day to day services, i.e Security, Cleaning and Technical maintenance. The current Security and cleaning services will be maintained during the transition period on a monthly basis. Developer to ensure that Landserve pays the Security, Cleaning Services for amount owing to date before the new Management takes over. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| To ensure smooth workflow and handover to new Management | Developer | On appointment of new Management | |||||||||||
| 15. Community Programmes | |||||||||||||
| The meeting would like to see a proposal and kickstart of community programmes. A budget will be set aside for community activities (suggested 3 activities per year). Robin will draw up a proposal to be discussed further in the next JMC meeting. | |||||||||||||
| Action Items | Responsible Parties | Deadline | |||||||||||
| Proposals for Community programmes/activities | Robin | Next JMC meeting | |||||||||||
| Next Meeting | |||||||||||||
| Although this meeting is intended to be held once monthly, several issues that require urgent attention will need to call for another JMC meeting before the next due date. | |||||||||||||
