JMC's Chairman Statement

Dear Owners of Desa Putra

Thank you for your comments here on Eddie’s blog. I would like to take this opportunity to answer some of the points raised and also the suggestions offered.

Firstly, there was a period of 2 months where our budget went into deficit. This was mainly due to the rise in Electrical rates and other expenses necessary for that duration of time ie the increase of security personel for the festive seasons (Christmas-New Year – Chinese New Year) in view of the possibilities that quite a lot of units will be empty due to the long holidays. However, as it is clearly shown (in our new upcoming website), our accounts will indicate that currently, our collection is just sufficient for the expenses allocated not taking into consideration that our collection will not be 100% due some owners who are not paying on time their maintenance fees. So, as a result, we have to be very prudent in our expenditure in order to ensure that sufficient cash is available for the day to day expenses and that no compromise in the quality of service, cleanliness or security happens to our condo.

Having that, please do understand, we on the JMC has a long list of “wish list” for improvement on the condo. However, priority has to be given to those items which are needed urgently. With this in mind, i will then address some of the points raised.

Camera in the lifts – this was proposed but the cost was prohibitive due to the point that, firstly you need to pull the necessary cables for the full length of the lift (you have to provide for the full length from the top floor where the cable originate and then all the way down travel to the lowest (P4) floor – plus then you need to recable from the lift rooms right back all the way to the CCTV room at C block ground floor. The camera itself is cheap – the labour plus the cabling cost is however prohibitive. Wireless system was thought about but this again has consistency and latency problems, additional equipments and is not cheap either. Nevertheless this project is KIV until we have such surplus of funds.

Lift canvass – this was not a delay due to finding the right supplier. The problem was, the cost quoted all the while was in our opinion simply too high. So, we decided and asked BR to try to find a party which can sew the material together and make this tailor made. This was done and we managed to save quite a lot on the actual cost of this.

Boom gates which are bad for image – well i totally agree with you and this is also not a cheap item. We would like to push the developer to change this with some other items as part of our complaints on the property defects but do note this is not a defect per se (considered as wear and tear) but just that the specified and given item do not have the kind of heavy duty performance it requires. With no surplus in mind, we do not wish to spend first on these item unless it is completely damaged. Having said that, BR has been tasked to understudy the requirements for replacements and other such requirements in their review of the maintenance fees and sinking fund charges. With this, we hope to plan and budget and then change it over time as necessary. But it will cost all of us for sure.

Gym and own towels – we agree and this is a normal practise for public gyms. We will instruct BR to look into this and implement and enforce this soonest possible.

Izzynet tower – we are working an arrangement with Izzynet for the broadcasting tower of the internet broadband service for a certain fee to the common funds. BR has been tasked to check and see if these has the required authorisation from the authority for safety and health issues before we proceed to finalise it.