In Kuching, Sentoria director fined total RM5,000 for not complying with Housing Tribunal’s award

KUCHING (July 11): The Magistrates’ Court here today fined the director of housing developer Sentoria Borneo Land Sdn Bhd a total of RM5,000 for non-compliance with the Housing Tribunal’s award for five cases.

Chan Kong San, 62, pleaded guilty to five charges framed under Section 53(1) of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Ordinance 2013 (Cap.69) for failure to comply with awards issued by the Tribunal For Housing Purchaser Claims Sarawak dated from 2020 to 2022.

He took the plea as the company’s representative after the company failed to pay compensation awards to five house purchasers within 45 days from the date the awards were issued.

The awards were for landed residential projects at Borneo Samariang Resort City (BSRC).

Magistrate Zubaidah Sharkawi fined the company representative RM1,000 for each of the three cases she presided over.

Lawyers for the developer, Wong King Wei and Teng Lee Kai, told the court that the crux of the case was a civil debt matter between the property developer and the respective property purchasers and ought not to invoke Section 53 of the said Ordinance.

Nevertheless, they said due to the unfortunate circumstances that OCBC Bank had yet to get the property developer’s Housing Development Account (HAD) lifted, the property directors reached out to the respective purchasers to reach an amicable settlement.

Similarly, Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura and Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan fined the company representative RM1,000 for the two cases they presided over.

Deputy public prosecutor Ronald Felix Hardin said Section 53 of the said Ordinance is a criminal penalty to be imposed for failure to comply with the award issued by the Tribunal For Housing Purchaser Claims Sarawak and any person is liable to a fine not exceeding RM5,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.

Several officials from the Tribunal For Housing Purchaser Claims Sarawak also attended the proceedings.