BREAKING NEWS

I spoke to a senior security guard about the news going round that a girl from Block C was raped. According to the guard, they considered it a false report. A girl who was not a resident of Prima came to visit some friends at Block C. Later, she called her uncle and informed him that she was raped at a garbage house Block C at 9.30p.m. two days ago.

Her uncle came to the guardhouse and informed the guards. They went looking for the girl but the girl was nowhere to be found. The guards told him to lodge a police report and told him to come back the next day. He never did and the guards considered the case closed.

Anyone out there who has a better picture of the incident, please e-mail me.

The sinking fund

The sinking fund is a very important fund for us. It is like our saving for the rainy days or for the old age.It can only be utilized for an upgrading jobs like replacing old equipments or a new painting job.

I would like elaborate a little on why the sinking fund is such an important fund for us . By the time we receive our strata titles that enables us to set up our management corporation to manage our own properties, wear and tear to the buildings are beginning to set in. Certain equipments in the lifts need to be replaced and these equipments are very expensive. We may need to carry out a repainting job. This is the time when we have to dig into the sinking fund. Without the sinking fund, the conditions of the building will definitely deteriorate to the extent that the values will depreciate. The developer is not going to bail us out. This is the reason why I said the sinking fund is a very very important fund . It can add values to our properties. Just look around K.L., how many buildings have a new coat of paint? Hardly any, simply because they don't have sufficient fund to do it.

We are very fortunate that our sinking fund is growing. It is untouched and to date, it stands at about RM700,000. It is the R.A.'s job to monitor the sinking fund. In our meeting with the management, I always emphasized the importance of the sinking fund. The management had given us an assurance that they would inform us should they need to utilize the sinking fund.

There is no room to celebrate and there is no time to rejoice. The fund is not in our account but in the developer's account. When the fund gets too large , the temptation gets greater. The developer may carry out some hanky-panky job to dig into the account. It happened to so many other condos. Hopefully, it does not happen to us. We just have to trust UOA. Under the new S and P agreement ( amendments 2002 ) the developers are only trustee to the fund. It would have to be returned to the owners when they have set up their management corporation. Hopefully, this provision applies to us too. In the meantime, we just have to wait for our strata-titles.

I have published quite a number of posts. I really don't know how the residents would react to my comments and views. I may be wrong or I may have offended some people. Anyway, if you think you do not agree me on certain issues, do let me know.

You can e-mail me at sqssee@yahoo.com

You can also skype me at benson8288

The management fund

There are many residents out there who do not know how the maintenance fees contributed by us is maintained. Sad to mention that there are some who don't understand why they have to contribute to the sinking fund.

In any condominiums, there is a property manager. For some condos, they appoint property management companies from the market to manage the condos which they built. In our case Dats Management Sdn Bhd which is a subsidiary of UOA is our property manager. In the management of condominiums, a property manager has to maintain two funds, one is the management fund and the other is the sinking fund. For this post I shall write about the management fund.

The management fund is utilized for monthly operating expenditure which covers the contractual services for the lifts, security services, the cleaning services, the swimming pool, the maintenance of water pumps and others. The management fund is also utilized to pay electricity bill, wages for the administrative staff, the management fee ( the so called professional fee ) to the developer, repair jobs and sundry expenses. The management fund comes from the maintenance fees contributed by all the owners of Prima Setapak. In another word, we pay for everything at Prima Setapak.

Sometimes I ask myself whether it is justified for the developer to receive a management fee ( RM 12,000 per month for our condo ) when everything has been paid for. They have already made a profit from the sale of their properties. They should not profited from the management of our properties. I would also like to stress that no developers would come out with their own fund should the mangement fund is not sufficient to cover the operating expenditure. They will just cut cost by cutting down some services which may lead to buildings being badly maintained. You can see many of these badly maintained building in K.L.

We are fortunate in the sense that more than 90 % of the owners pay up their maintenance fees . As a matter of fact, there is a slight surplus if not for the drastic increase ( explanation in the previous post ) in the cost of security services.

I have written a lot today. I don't know whether what I am writing is informative or just boring. Anyway, I shall continue to write and the next topic that I am going to write about is the sinking fund. Good night and have a nice day.

Deficit in the management fund.

I promised to talk about the deficit in the management fund. Here I am, after a day off. Actually I went home to pay my respects to the deceased ones.

After going through the management account, I got a shock when I discovered that the security fees had increased to RM30,000 per month for the year 2004 from about RM20,000 per month for the year 2003. I guess the increament explained why there is a deficit in the management acc which gave the management the excuse to increase our maintenance fees.

I made a call to their finance manager to seek an explanation over the drastic increase in th cost of security services. When I mentioned I was someone from the Residents Association, the lady told me that under the Strata Titles Act the R.A. has no 'local standi'. I was quite upset but anyway, the lady promised to call me back after she had looked into the figures.

As promised, she did call me. I was thinking the management would ignore me. The lady told me that the rate for security services was based on the market rate. Previously, the rate was based on the wages of the security guards. I think the only reason the rate was based on the market rate was because UOA was offering REITS to the public and Dats Management which is a subsidiary of UOA was appointed as the property manager for UOA properties. So, Dats Management privatized its security services in order to make a profit. we are just the victims of circumstances.

Besides receiving about RM12,000 a month for managing our properties, Dats Management is also making about RM 10,000 for providing the security services. How greedy developer can be ! Datuk Ong Ka Ting should read my blog. He should know that the owners of the properties have no bargaining power at all if their properties are without strata titles. He should formulated a by-law that gives some kind of management power to the owners.

I really look forward to the day when the strata titles are issued and I guess, on that day it will be our independent day. I think it's getting late and I'm rather sleepy. The next issue that I will be writing about will be the sinking fund. Good night and have a nice day.

Today is Saturday which is the day I am looking forward to every week. Everything moves slowly for me on Saturdays. There is no need for me to rush to anywhere. I just love to loiter around the house. Everyday, I discover something new through the internet. I can spend hours surfing the net. I am just an old man trying very hard to catch up with the youngs.

Forget the introduction and lets get down to some serious matters. By the way, I just put up a notice on the notice board telling the residents about my new discovery. I wonder how many residents would go to the notice board .

I promised to talk about the increase in the maintenance fees. The management people called me up and told me that the revenue ( amount of maintenance fees collected ) is not sufficient to finance their operating expenditure. They did not not mention anything about their intention to increase the maintenance fees but when I pressed further, they finally admitted. They wanted an increament of 3 sen per sq feet. I told them that it was ridiculous. I told them that any increament has to be justified by the audited account. I called for a committee meeting and we agreed that we would have to wait for the audited acc to be ready.

Finally, the audited account was given to us. The management acc indicated that there is a deficit of about RM 180,000. Their boss insisted on a 3 sen increament. I wrote a letter to them to appeal to them to reduce it to 2 sen which is a reasonable figure and it would not hurt the residents too much. We are really at their mercy although we are the owners of our own properties.

Well, I think have written a lot today. I shall continue later and explain why there was such a big deficit in the management account. Have an enjoyable weekend. Bye..............

Hi, I am back again. In the last posting , I was talking about the importance of having a Residents Association. Actually, we don't have any authority to tell the management what to do. Our main role is to serve as a watch dog for Prima. We are here to protect our interests as property owners. To complain and to protest when we are unfairly treated. I wish to highlight something that we did last year.

I received a call from the management sometime in July last year. They told me that they were going to replace all the security guards citing shortage of manpower as one of the reasons. They were going to use those security guards in the brown uniforms. I told them that the present guards are performing well. There is no reason to change unless someone has a pecuniary interest in it. They insisted that they have to. So,the R.A. carried out a signature campaign to protest. We submitted the signatures to their boss accompanied by a nasty letter. They changed their stand eventually and we won the battle.

The point I would like to stress here is that what we did is not important but the fact that the Residents Association is there when we need it most, is important. As a group, we are able to do more than what an individual can.

I think I have written enough. I shall keep you informed from time to time. I think the next issue that I am going write about is the increase in the maintenance fees which I think many owners are keen to know. Have a good day.

This blog was created on the 24th. March 2006. Actually , while I was surfing the net, I came across this google blog. This blog allows us to post something on the net so that everyoe can have access to it. We can express ourselves freely and the whole world will know about it. You can write about anything and it is something like having your own website without having to pay a single cent.

Well, I think I am not going to misuse this wonderful service provided by google. I shall use it to keep the owners of Prima Setapak informed on what is happening at Prima. I wish I can reach out to most of the owners. As owners of strata properties, it is very important to know your rights as property owners. Without ownership of strata titles, legally, you are not truly the owners of your properties. Your properties are managed by the developer. You have no say on how your properties are managed. That is the reason why for properties without strata titles, it is very important to have a Residents Association.

I am getting tired. I shall continue when I can find the time to write again. Have a nice day to all the owners of Prima Setapak.