New Date for JMB Meeting

The new date for JMB Meeting has been fixed on 3rd August 2008. This time the meeting will be called by the COB, who is the YDP for Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai. He will be using his power under S 5(3) of the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007. The YDP has further appointed BHL Property Consultants to conduct the meeting.

The details of the meeting are as follows:-

Date : 3rd August 2008
Time : 3 pm
Venue : Pearl View Hotel, Seberang Prai.

Using his power, the YDP has directed that the eligibility to vote at the meeting will be for owners of Megamal who has paid 3 months maintenance charges in advance for the months of August, September and October 2008 to BHL Property Consultants. Kindly make payment to a special account set up for this purpose which is BHL PROPERTY CONSULTANTS (MEGAMALL-JMB). Kindly note that only those owners who paid to this account will be entitled to vote, and not those who paid to any other persons including the previous management MMP Management.

By now owners would have received notice of the meeting from BHL Property Consultants with details of how to vote during the meeting and how to pay the maintenance charges. To facilitate owners, BHL Property Consultants will be having a booth at Basement of Pacific Hypermarket, Shop Lot 13 (besides Time Square) from 25th till 30th July 2008, 2 - 6 pm everyday. Their representatives will be there to handle payments and also assist owners to fill up their forms. Please bring along your I/C and copy of your Sale and Purchase Agreement for vertification.

Kindly note that payment and forms must be submitted on or before 5 pm, 30th July 2008.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

We would like to advice all owners not to make any kind of maintainance payment either in advance or outstanding payments to the previous management ( MMP Management ). The COB (MPSP) has used his power under Section 5(3) of the Building and Common Property(Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 to hold the first JMB meeting. Only those who make payment of maintenance charges to BHL Property Consultants have the right to vote in the JMB meeting. Thank You. For queries please call Mr. Ng Hooi Lai at 016 - 415 9965.

Our Mission

INTRODUCTION
We are an association incorporated under the Societies Act 1966 with the registration number 62. The purpose of this Persatuan is to represent the owners of the Megamall Pinang shopping complex on all matters related to the complex to ensure that your interest in the Complex is protected and enhanced.

The Persatuan is a forum that is open to all owners and business operators of Megamall Pinang. We welcome everyone's participation and commitment to work together for the future of our Complex

OUR PLANS
As an association which represents the owners and business operators in this Complex, we have plans that will benefit all parties in the future. With the proliferation of more shopping complex in the surrounding area, we have to come out with new ideas which will help us to move forward in developing our mall and to maintain the momentum and the successes of our business and mall.

SECURITY
We have been having dialogues, discussion, functions and events with the Royal Malaysian Police. With the alarming rate of snatch thief, vehicle thief and etc, we will be upgrading the standard of security. This is to ensure our customers feel safe to shop here.

EXTENDED SHOPS
Currently the extended shops have been blocking the entrance of the permanent shop units. This have caused dissatisfaction among both parties. To ensure win – win situation, we will be encouraging these extended shop areas to rent out shop lots at level 2,3 and 4. This will allow all parties to conduct their business without any tension and on the other hand will promote better customer flows in the upper floors.

LIFTS
To ensure customers reach all the floors in the Complex, the Persatuan has future plans to set up 2 sky-lift at the main common area. This will encourage the shoppers to visit all the upper floors.

COMMUNITY FRIENDLY
We have been organizing events and functions related to charity ie : blood donation, anti drug campaign, Rakan Cop, donation for the Johor flood victim and etc. We as a non profit organization will not only ensure that the rights of our owners and business operators are protected, but the welfare of our community also will be given priority.

HOTEL
The Persatuan have been guiding and working closely with the new hotel owner to help in all necessary areas for the reconstruction of the hotel.

INFRASTRUCTURE
We are liaising together with the new hotel owner and local council ( MPSP ) to upgrade and restructure the roads surrounding Megamall / Bandar Perai Jaya and its drainage system

OTHER PLANS
Other than that, the 4^th floor will be turn into showroom, college or other attractions that will attract more customers to the Complex, rather than remaining vacant and and an eye-sore in its present condition.

CONCLUSION
A vote for the Persatuan in the coming JMB Meeting is a vote for self-management of the Complex. The members of the association are themselves owners who have their business and livelihood in this Complex. In fact the Persatuan welcome participation from all owners to jointly manage the Complex together. As the owner we would surely manage the Complex to ensure that the sucess of the mall remains the main priority.

PK 2008

Brief Info On Megamall Pinang

Penas Sayang Development Sdn Bhd (later known as Tanjung Gemuruh Sdn Bhd) (“TGSB”) is the developer of Bandar Penas a mixed development consisting of 934 units in a shopping complex, Megamal Pinang, Prai (“Megamal”).

TGSB was wound up by the Inland Revenue Board on 24th March 2003, for failure to settle its income tax.

Initially, TGSB was managed by the Insolvency Department.

Thereafter, the court has ordered that the management of TGSB be handed over to 2 liquidators from Messrs. Mustapha & Raj, an accounting firm.

MMP Management Sdn Bhd (“MMP”) is a company appointed by TGSB to manage the operation of Megamal.

MMP is closely related to TGSB as they are in the same group of companies and also having common director and/or directors who are siblings.

Therefore although TGSB is wound up and no longer has any control over Megamal, its associate company MMP continues to CONTROL AND MANAGE Megamal.

Persatuan Peniaga dan Pemilik Megamal Pinang (“Persatuan”) is an association formed under the Societies Act for the purpose of promoting and protecting the rights of owners and businesses at Megamal.

The Persatuan is of the view that TGSB/MMP cannot be allowed to continue managing Megamal and has since 2003 actively work to preserve our hard earned investment and business in Megamal.

We have seek the help of various government authorities such as the Penang State Government, the Federal Government, the Housing and Local Government Ministry, the Insolvency Department and the Seberang Prai Municipal Council to allow the owners themselves to manage Megamal so that we can do something to restore Megamal.

Now finally with the passing of the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (“the Act”), the owners of Megamal can now form the Joint Management Body (“JMB”) comprising of people elected by the owners themselves to manage Megamal.

However, the Liquidators have failed to convene the first meeting of the JMB by 11th April 2008 as required by the Act.

The Persatuan has written to and met up with the COB many many times urging him to use his power under the Act to appoint the Persatuan to convene the meeting.

The Persatuan is worried that if it is left to the Liquidators to convene the meeting there will be issues relating to eligibility of owners to vote at the meeting, thus depriving the setting up of a Joint Management Committee which is truly representative of the owners.

The fear of the Persatuan came true. This is because when the COB ordered the liquidators to convene the meeting which was supposed to be held on 26th June 2008, there were a lot of complaints by the owners.

Many owners were not given with the notice of the meeting, and some owners have been served with 2 different notices.

As a result of intervention by the Persatuan, the COB finally agreed to step in and has fixed the JMB meeting to be held later.

WHY WE MUST CHANGE THE MANAGEMENT?

Since the winding-up of TGSB, the power of MMP to manage Megamal is doubtful. For example, we the owners have been billed not by MMP but by another company called MNP Properties Sdn Bhd. The bill in turn asked us to pay MMP.

The Developer TGSB has left behind a debt of RM795,574.47 owing to Pentadbir Tanah Daerah, SPT and this is one of the reasons why strata title still could not be issued to owners of Megamal. As a result owners still have no title over the properties they invested in and they had to pay RM3,000.00 for consent each time they want to sell their properties. All this is because the strata title is not issued.

TGSB/MMP has not been able to account for the sinking fund paid by Megamal’s owners amounting to millions. This is the owner’s monies collected for effecting repairs to Megamal. As a result, Megamal is in disrepair.

No account has been given for the owner’s inspection as to how the maintenance charges and rental from the common areas have been utilized. This is despite repeated demands for the same from the Insolvency Department, the Seberang Prai Municipal Council acting as Commissioners of Building (COB) and also the Persatuan. How can we as owners of Megamal be kept in the dark about our own monies which are supposed to be used for the betterment and maintenance of Megamal?

Illegal kiosks have been built in the common areas belonging to the owners. These kiosks are built very close to the owners’ units. Not only are they fire hazards, they also obscure the façade of the owners’ units. Another question is, who collected the rentals and maintenance charges for these kiosks, monies which are suppose to belong to owners of Megamal and used for Megamal? The Persatuan has actively lobbied against this matter and actions have been taken by the Seberang Prai Municipal Council to demolish those illegal kiosk.

The maintenance of Megamal has been getting from bad to worse and Megamal is now in a sorry state where many M&E items are not working. There were incidents of the electricity being cut and the car park being closed. Given time, the building may further deteriorate if the present management is continued.

The Persatuan discovered that many parts of the building which were initially common areas had been sold. Under the Strata Title Act, common areas belonged to the owners of Megamal collectively. Again, the question is, who allowed that to happen and who pocketed those proceeds of sale?


CONCLUSION

THE FUTURE OF MEGAMAL AND THE FUTURE OF ALL OWNERS AND BUSINESS OPERATORS AT MEGAMAL IN NOW IN YOUR HAND.

PLEASE VOTE WISELY.

JMB First Annual General Meeting

The JMB meeting that was scheduled on the 24th of June 2008 have been called off. There are numerous problems. First there were two conflicting notices that was issued to some owners, one notice stated the date of meeting to be 24th June 2008 while the other notice stated the date as 26th June 2008. Some owners received both notices, while other owners received either one of the said notices. Furthermore, a lot of owners complained about not receiving any notice at all, while some received notice that was shorter than the required 14 days prior to the meeting. Thus the Persatuan highlighted to the relevant authorities that with all these irregularities, the JMB Meeting would be in contravention of the Building and Common Property(Maintenance and Management) Act 2007. So for the time being the meeting has been cancelled. We will keep everyone updated on the progress. Thank You.