Francis Goh elected as new SHAREDA president 

Published on 28th March, 2013 by New Sabah Times 

KOTA KINABALU: Kinsabina Sdn Bhd (Kinsabina Group) managing director Francis Goh Fah Shun was elected as the new president of the Sabah Housing & Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA) at its 20th annual general meeting and election of office bearers yesterday.

The meeting, held at SHAREDA secretariat at Beverly Hills Plaza, saw Francis garner 84 votes against incumbent president Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen who obtained 69 votes. There were two spoilt votes.

Francis, who led the Revamp Team, won by a majority of 15 votes to unseat Susan who helmed the presidency for two terms since 2009 and was bidding for a final third term of two years to complete her unfinished jobs.

The candidates aligned to the Revamp Team won all the positions they contested except for a council member post which went to the Vision Team led by Susan.

There are a total of 163 SHAREDA members but only 155 of them turned out to cast their ballots for the president’s post.

In the contest for the deputy president’s post, Chew Sang Hai from Grand Merdeka Development Sdn Bhd polled 87 votes to defeat incumbent Datuk Robin Loh Hoon Loi from Dapan Holdings Sdn Bhd who obtained 67 votes. There were two spoilt votes.

Four candidates vied for the two vice president’s posts. Dato’ John Chee Shi Tong from J&M Development Sdn Bhd and Tan Duo Zer from Hap Seng Properties Development Sdn Bhd, respectively polled the highest votes of 92 and 83 to clinch the positions.

The two incumbents, Wong Ten An from Mega Sunwise Sdn Bhd and Wong Chen Yee from The W Property Collection Sdn Bhd, respectively obtained 69 votes and 49 votes.

Incumbent Ben Kong Chung Vui successfully defended the secretary-general’s post when he polled 88 votes to edge out Linda Wong Chung Hie from Sunyap Development Sdn Bhd who obtained 66 votes.

The post of treasurer-general was won by Chai Meng Kong from Top Green Development (Sabah) Sdn Bhd when he secured 84 votes against Datuk Chong Hon Len from Nadi Properties Development Sdn Bhd with 67 votes.

Ten candidates vied for five council member’s posts and the top five who polled the highest votes would be appointed to the committee.

Pengiran Saifuddin Pengiran Tahir from Sabah Urban Development Sdn Bhd and Quek Siew Hau from Velda Development Sdn Bhd emerged the joint top winners in the polls with 80 votes, followed by Chua Soon Ping from Remajaya Sdn Bhd (79 votes), Reggie Sua from Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (78 votes) and Chew Fei Sean from Pembangunan Teluk Likas Sdn Bhd (75 votes).

The others were incumbent Wong Chik Hing from Gunung Ramai Sdn Bhd (74 votes), Ang Guo Wei from RA Concept Development Sdn Bhd (74 votes), incumbent Koh Yong Siang from Waterfront Urban Development Sdn Bhd (69 votes), Lawrence Wong Gine Kong from Wong Ka Tong & Sons Construction Sdn Bhd (68 votes) and Melvin Gregory Disimond from KKIP Sdn Bhd (33 votes).

Source: http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/67162

Dept apologises to Shareda

Published on: Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Kota Kinabalu: The Lands & Surveys Department Tuesday extended an apology to Shareda which has been waiting almost two years for the outcome of its application for reversal to the 999-year leasehold land titles.

"We wish to apologise to Shareda which brought the matter to our attention, and requested us to bring this issue to the higher-ups.

But we really need time because this is not an easy matter as it involves titles and properties.

"We had to carry out studies on the issue, including practices in Semenanjung and Sarawak, as well as current practices in the Sabah Lands & Surveys Department. We could only come up with the Official Paper last year," its Director, Datuk Hj Osman Hj Jamal, told a Shareda delegation that called on him.

He said prior to that, the department's Technical Committee met three times to discuss the proposed Paper. "We had to get the views of all officials in the Lands & Surveys Department."

The Sabah Housing And Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) had applied seeking to maintain the original 999-year lease term after subdivision and conversion of the master title for landowners, developers and house owners, instead of the 99-year leasehold tenure.

Osman described Shareda as a most patient association, saying it is patient enough to wait until 2013. "I believe the State Government will give serious

attention to this outstanding matter which has been highlighted in the media since 2011," he said.

Following the application in September 2011, its President Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen and her Committee had met up with the Director twice, apart from several letters of appeal in 2012.

Osman said his Department has prepared a technical paper on the issue of Country Lease (CL) 999-year leasehold land titles based on its practices before and after 2000 for the Government's deliberation and approval.

"The next step is to seek the legal opinions of the Sabah Law Association (SLA) relating to three important sections in the Sabah Land Ordinance 1930 (Cap 68)," he said.

These are Section 3 (Saving Clause), Section 40 (Subdivision of Land Title) and Section 54 (Conversion of Land Usage from Agriculture to Residential, Commercial or Industrial Development) that needed to be studied indepth. "As far as the Department is concerned, we have studied the sections before coming up with the paper. We are going to incorporate their opinions into our paper which will be submitted to the State Attorney-General for study. At the same time, we are seeking the AG's legal views on our paper.

"If all the legal opinions are positive on the matter, we will then submit our paper to the Pejabat Hasil Bumi (Natural Resources Office).

Hopefully, Hasil Bumi will also agree. As usual, Hasil Bumi will come up with a Draft Cabinet Paper to be submitted to the Chief Minister as the Minister concerned with land matters under the Sabah Land Ordinance."

If agreed upon, it would be tabled in the Cabinet for deliberation for a resolution or decision on Shareda's application, he told a press conference at its headquarters after briefing the delegation led by Wong.

Others were Deputy President Datuk Robin Loh and Council Members Datuk Ir Chong Hon Len and Johnson Koh Yong Siang. Also present was Deputy Director (Land Development), Mohd Yusrie Abdullah.

Osman, however, he could not decide on when the Draft Cabinet Paper would be tabled "as it is the prerogative of the State Government when to have the Cabinet Meeting."

On why it was necessary to obtain SLA's views, the Director said it would be good for NGOs to present their opinions in the interest of the public.

"It is an ongoing practice to refer to the SLA on anything that touches the Sabah Land Ordinance. If we want to amend the Ordinance, the AG's advice is to include SLA's views. This is exactly what we did when we wanted to amend the Land Acquisition Act."

Asked on the department's stand vis-ˆ-vis Shareda's application, Osman said: "The department would have rejected it if we had not agreed in principle but there is a case and we have to provide the Government with all the information. This includes Court decisions in the Peninsula pertaining to land matters."

He cited a case in Selangor where the landowner or developer asked for a judicial review by the Court against the Director of Minerals (Selangor).

"Based on the judgement, the developer won the case on the grounds that the Selangor Government cannot convert existing freehold titles (in perpetuity) to a 99-year lease term. That is the outcome of the judicial review. This information is also included in the department's paper for submission to the AG and subsequently Hasil Bumi."

Osman was commenting on Shareda's opposing camp's intention to seek a judicial review if the Government could not resolve the Country Lease (CL) 999-year leasehold issue.

In addition, he said there was also a case before Year 2000 whereby the department had approved and issued land titles with a 999-year leasehold tenure after the conversion of land use from agriculture to residential development.

"Ada title begitu, pernah berlaku (There is such a title, it has happened before). However, the matter was later referred to the AG's Office for interpretation of Section 54 of the Sabah Land Ordinance.

"Following the AG's views, we (department) stopped issuing subdivided titles with a 999-year lease for subdivision and conversion of original master titles.

"Then Shareda came in with its application for the 999-year lease to be retained," he said. According to Osman, the Sarawak Land Ordinance does not have a "Saving Clause" unlike the Sabah Land Ordinance.

"Which means titles issued in the past with a 999-year lease before the 1930 Land Ordinance cannot be batal (terminated), and must be continued.

Therefore, we have incorporated all those aspects into our comprehensive paper and it's up to the AG's Office to study it, he said.

Thanking Osman and his team for taking up the case, Wong expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved in due course, to which the Director replied, Insya-Allah (God Willing).

Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=84743

SESB clarifies on the security deposit

Published on: Sunday, February 03, 2013

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) clarified that the electricity security deposit is calculated based on clients' current usage over the last six months.

According to SESB's Senior General Manager (Asset Management), Ir Ahmad Fuad Md Kassim, the deposit is needed just in case any SESB property is found damaged. "It is also held to be on the safe side just in case clients are in debt when they end their contract.

This is also in line with their rules and guidelines (clause 5), Electrical Supply 1990 Act."

The rules state that clients must deposit an amount of money to cover a period of two months within seven working days from the claim.

Apart from that, Ahmad also pointed out that the calculation of the security deposit is made automatically through SESB's electronic billing system.

"If the average electricity usage is more than the deposit, clients must add the amount of their deposit."

He explained that SESB will return deposits or any balance from their deposits upon request if clients' average two months bill are found less than their initial deposit.

"A 2.5 per cent rebate from the deposit will be credited into the client's bill in January on an annual basis."

This involves security deposits only and not advance payments.

The monthly bill must be paid within 30 days from the date the bill was issued or before the payment deadline as stated on the bill.

For further information, please log on to: http://www.sesb.com.my or call 1-800-88-1135 SESB or come to the nearest SESB branch.

Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=84205

Bolton signs JV for RM480m GDV Sabah development

Written by Ho Ching Ling of theedgemalaysia.com on 21 November 2012

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Bolton Bhd has entered into a joint venture agreement with Mobuild Sdn Bhd for a residential development project in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah worth an estimated gross development (GDV) value of RM480 million.

The project — which represents Bolton’s maiden project in East Malaysia — will consist of 500 units of luxury condominiums and 50 units of landed villas on a 10.33 acre land at Signal Hill and is slated to be launched in the first half of 2013.
 
"As you know, we have primarily been a Klang Valley developer but we view Kota Kinabalu as a very good market,” said group executive chairman Tan Sri Azman Yahya at the double signing ceremony today.

According to Azman, the partnership will be a 50:50 collaboration in which Mobuild will provide the land while Bolton will be responsible for the working capital and development of the units.

Azman added the group will be announcing more joint venture collaborations in the near future specifically one development in Penang and another in Kota Bahru, the latter which will be announced by end of this year.

“Bolton is currently being sought after as a desirable joint-venture partner due to our flexibility and adaptability when dealing with our partners and the type of attractive development concepts we bring,” he said.

The group also signed a RM370 million financing facility with Affin Investment Bank today consisting of RM230 million Islamic medium term notes programme and a RM140 million revolving credit line, which Azman said will be largely utilised to finance land acquisitions and project financing.

“The facility also gives us the funds to undertake further land and development acquisitions to move us closer to our RM1 billion annual sales target we set to achieve in a couple of years,” Azman added.

The property developer currently has a land bank size of 1,300 acres with the largest plot being the 625-acre land in Sungai Long.

“We expect to launch the first phase of this township comprising 160 acres within the next two years with a target GDV in excess of RM1 billion whereas the remaining phases will be developed over the next 10 years and could further generate GDV in excess of RM2 billion,” he said. 

Source:  http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/business-news/225381-bolton-signs-jv-for-rm480m-gdv-sabah-development-.html

KK’s Blu Summer Suites offers SOVO 

Published 21st October, 2012 by New Sabah Times

KOTA KINABALU: The Blu Summer Suites project located in the Golden Triangle of Kota Kinabalu is offering small office versatile office (SOVO) suitable for young entrepreneurs who aspire to set up business in Sabah.

“It comprises two towers with 420 SOVO units of various sizes from 401sqft to 581sqft and 400 units of hotel suites.

“The gross development value of these two towers is about RM450 million,” said Kenny Lim, the director of Blu Waterfront Development Sdn Bhd at the opening of Blu Summer Suites property gallery at KK Times Square here yesterday.

The event was graced by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai. Also present was Malaysia Chinese Chamber of Commerce president Datuk Lau Kok Seng.

This modern development comes with the best-in-house facilities in town such as swimming pool, gym room facilities, Sauna, spa, jacuzzi and a rooftop barbecue area as well as an exclusive and boutique design retail mall at the ground and first floor of the building.

“Our concept is to create a convenient and stylish life style for owners so that they can work, play and enjoy their lifestyle within the vicinity,” Kenny said.

For the hotel suites, he said: “We are in the midst of arranging a well-known hotel operator from Singapore to run the operation. This will be an added value to the SOVO units,” he said.

Currently, the company has a project at Lahad Datu town – First Palm City Centre – which is a mixed development on a 58-acre plot of land.

“It consists of consists of shop offices, hotel, shoplex, a hypermarket and a bus terminal,” he said adding that Phase 1 and 2 had been fully sold out while Phase 3 was now open for sale.

Kenny also said they were going to launch a gated and guarded residential project which consisted of bungalows, terrace houses and condominium with club house facilities at Bukit Padang in the second quarter of 2013.

“In order to penetrate and expand local market, we have engaged Big House Management Sdn Bhd to be the exclusive marketing consultant to market the project for us,” he revealed.

Meanwhile Dr Yee the launching of the project showed that the company has confidence in Sabah.

“We welcome you to Sabah to develop this project right at the heart of the city,” he said.

The hotel suites, he said would help to meet the increasing demand of tourists.

Source:  http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/63101

Water theme park and region's largest duty free shop planned

Published on: Saturday, September 15, 2012 by Daily Express

Kota Kinabalu: A water theme park with a floating stage for orchestral performances in the middle, the largest duty-free shop in South East Asia and an adventure park are among future projects to be developed at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP).

They would be built in the vicinity of the Karambunai resort area where there are lots of sea sports activities.

KKIP Land and Business Development Senior Manager Lawrence Kimkuan said the industrial zones within KKIP have all been fully developed and are ready to be taken up by investors.

So far, KKIP has managed to develop all of its 800 acres allocated for industrial purposes. It has also successfully developed other zones of the park into commercial and residential areas.

"Now, we are going to move into leisure and tourism aspect of the park.

Unfortunately, the State Government has yet to approve our application to develop this zone. But it is coming," said Kimkuan.

The zone in question has actually been gazetted for tourism.

However, KKIP still needs to gain approval from the State Government.

"We assure business owners that we are not going to compete with the existing businesses there with these future projects," said Kimkuan.

Meanwhile, KKIP Deputy Chief Executive Officer Melvin Disimond said KKIP is identifying niche industries that can be further developed.

"For example, from studies conducted recently, Sabah's food industry is the fastest growing in the State. The largest dairy farm in the country is in Sabah.

"Our niche may be in snack food. For instance, there is this snack food called Hari Hari which had already penetrated the market in West Malaysia," said Disimond.

The company that produced the snack recently bought a lot within KKIP since its factory in Kolombong could no longer cater to the space and production demands. "I found that Sabahan entrepreneurs like to be jack-of-all-trades. They want to do everything: agricultural, import-export, trading, contracting.

"But what they need to do is to sustain themselves into one specific industry and master it until they are successful," said Disimond.

He also explained that the State needs lots of logistics facilities and competent distributors if it wants to control prices of goods.

"The media always talks about cabotage policy but actually the key is to get a mainline operator in Sepanggar," said Disimond.

Until February this year, KKIP managed to rope in more than RM2 billion in investment.

More than 6,000 employees work in more than 200 companies within the park. 

Source:  http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=82561

Permaju to launch its first township in Sabah 

  Written by Rosalynn Poh on 01 July 2012 at The Edge Malaysia
 
Permaju Industries Bhd, a Sabah-based company listed on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of about RM190 million, is set to diversify into property development with its first launch in 3Q2012. 

The company, which was incorporated in 1996, has its core business in the automotive industry. However, it is making its foray into property development with a mixed-use township known as Princess Heights, a 109-acre leasehold tract in Sepangar just 15 minutes from Kota Kinabalu’s town centre. 

Princess Heights, which will be split 80:20 between residential and commercial units, will be developed in two main phases. The development sits on a slightly elevated tract with views of the surrounding mountains in Kota Kinabalu. It has an estimated gross development value (GDV) of at least RM700 million, which the developer believes may increase within the six years it will take to complete the township.  

Permaju Industries’ core business was timber-related until it diversified into automobile distribution and the provision of automobile-related services. The group has set an ambitious target for its new property division — it wants the property business to contribute 50% to its profit after the third year, executive director Datuk Eddie Chai Woon Chet tells City & Country. He adds that there will be more announcements in the near future on Permaju Industries’ property ventures.

Permaju’s entry into the property sector is via its acquisition of 70% of Hardie Development Sdn Bhd (HDSB) for RM33.68 million in 2010. HDSB had in 2003 entered a joint venture to develop Princess Heights with Supernesa Sdn Bhd, which in turn has a development agreement with Sabah government agency Sabah Housing and Town Development Authority to develop Princess Heights on the land owned by the state.

Chai says, according to the agreement, HDSB needs to contribute two blocks of apartments to SHTDA. 

“Why property? We chose property development because we think it is the most profitable industry for us to venture into. We chose Kota Kinabalu because Sabah was where we started our timber business, so we thought it was only appropriate that we developed our first project there,” he adds. 

The 33- year-old Chai is no stranger to property development as he has more than 10 years of experience developing the Alamesra township in Kota Kinabalu and projects in Kuala Lumpur under his own private company. According to an article in City & Country last July, Alamesra is located just opposite 1Borneo Shopping Mall and Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The 265-acre leasehold township project with a GDV of RM1.3 billion is more than 50% complete.

Chai believes there are still many opportunities in Sabah. “The property market has been very active there, especially residential. Newly launched terraced homes in Kota Kinabalu, with built-ups of 2,100 sq ft are easily being sold for RM600,000. There are still not enough houses in Sabah and the younger generation from Sabah who may currently be working in Peninsular Malaysia are looking to buy their own property back home. 

“Another interesting thing is that no matter if they are young or old, Sabahans like to invest in property. In Kuala Lumpur, one may look to buy cars or something but in Sabah, the business people seem to be interested in property. This has made the Kota Kinabalu property market vibrant over the past years. And foreigners mainly target the condominium market,” he says.

The first launch in Princess Heights will comprise walk-up apartments and 60 shopoffices. The 3-storey shopoffices with built-ups of 3,400 to 3,600 sq ft have indicative prices of around RM700,000, or between RM270 and RM300 psf. The walk-up apartments have an indicative price of RM200 psf with an average built-up of 1,000 sq ft. Apartments with lifts, which will be launched at a later date, have an indicative price of RM250 psf.

“There are many apartments in Kota Kinabalu and sales have been good. For example, some newly launched apartments in the town centre are selling for RM500 to RM600 psf and these are smaller units of around 700 sq ft. 

“There is a lot of demand for properties below RM1 million and we are confident that we can sell well. For example, our walk-up apartments will cost below RM300,000. There have been a lot of enquiries coming in since we put up our hoarding in the area and started our earthworks and infrastructure works. We are in the midst of piling for the apartment block. We have not even started marketing our project,” Chai says. 

Permaju Industries is also looking to develop a 10-acre commercial tract there and recently announced that the anchor tenant for its commercial component will be Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd, a local retail organisation with more than 72 outlets nationwide. While further details were unavailable at press time, the commercial tract agreement will be with Permanent Engineering Sdn Bhd, which will act as a project management company and lease the commercial component to Mydin Holdings for 20 years. A Bursa announcement states that the total development cost of the commercial project is about RM150 million.
Chai believes the land value of Princess Heights will increase up to five times its current value of RM33 million with the attractive offerings in the commercial tract, which is situated in the middle of the township. He says Princess Heights is targeted mainly at the local market. Chai adds that future projects from Permaju Industries would continue to cater for the medium and higher-end markets.

This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 913, June 4-10, 2012

Source: http://www.theedgeproperty.com/news-a-views/10245-cityacountry-permaju-to-launch-its-first-township-in-sabah.html