Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting should explain to Parliament how a housing tribunal set up under an amended law had failed to protect house buyers - the intended beneficiaries, said an opposition leader.

In a landmark ruling last Thursday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court decided that the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims is not empowered to hear housing disputes retrospectively. The house buyers are appealing the decision.

DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang wanted Ong to make a ministerial statement at tomorrow's parliamentary meeting on the fate of thousands of house buyers forced into a dilemma by last week's court ruling in favour of developers.

In such a mess

"Ong should explain how a legislation specifically designed to protect house buyers could end up in such a mess, giving no protection whatsoever to them for houses bought before Dec 1 last year," he said in a statement.

"It would appear that Ong and his ministry had acted most irresponsibly and negligently in creating the disaster for thousands of house buyers."

The tribunal, set up to reduce the huge case backlog involving housing disputes such as late delivery, was designed as a fast-track system to circumvent the civil process which is both time-consuming and costly.

Lim said this rendered all claims before the tribunal null and void, and the body itself a white elephant without a single claim before it.

All the cases pending hearing at the tribunal involve houses bought before Dec 1, 2002. Claims are capped at RM25,000 per dispute.

It is unlikely that disputes arising from houses bought post-Dec 1 would have reached the stage of being filed as a claim, he said.

He added that the estimated losses suffered by small-time house buyers could be much higher than the RM2.3 million awarded to more than 400 claimants so far.

Uneven fight

Citing a New Straits Times report yesterday which quoted sources as saying that an average of 50 claims were filed with the tribunal every month since its inception last December, he said the actual losses could be in the region of RM250 million.

"This is a staggering sum and loss for small-time house buyers in their uneven fight for justice against unscrupulous and recalcitrant housing developers," said the veteran opposition leader and former MP.

Following the ruling, Ong said the government would appeal against the High Court ruling and that it would be personally handled by Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail.

"Ong's announcement is neither reassuring, convincing nor impressive as the AG's Chambers had also been represented in the High Court hearing before judgment was delivered."

Lim said Ong's ministerial statement should outline the next strategy and steps to save and protect the rights and interests of the house buyers as well as to give life to the intention of parliament to afford such protection.

Consumer groups were also disappointed over the ruling, blaming the ministry for allowing a loophole when amending the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act, the creator of the tribunal, which took effect last Dec 1.

Consumers Association of Penang and Fomca have urged the government to quickly resolve this issue.