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Straits Times, 21 July, 2008.
By : Marc Lourdes
KUALA LUMPUR: What once took almost half a year can now be done in a little over a month.
The process of property registration has been massively reduced to a mere 41 days, a huge improvement from the 144 days it used to take previously.
The Special Taskforce to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) has managed to bring the registration time down by simplifying property registration forms and procedures as well as by publishing the guidebook Registering Property (Freehold) in Malaysia.
Pemudah board member Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam, who is also Westports executive chairman, said it previously took ages to get properties registered because the applications had to be vetted by more than 10 committees.
"Now, we have one overall committee so that an application doesn't need to go from panel to panel."
Gnanalingam said the guidebook would be distributed to all stakeholders, including town councils, district officers, related ministries, associations such as the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce, as well as builders and real estate agents' associations.
Building approvals are also being conducted much more quickly, thanks to the one-stop-centres (OSC) in local authorities for building and development project applications to be processed simultaneously.
This has reduced the approval time from 237 days to 120 days for build-and-sell projects, high impact projects, foreign investments as well as government projects.
Gnanalingam said introducing the OSCs had reduced the backlog of building approval cases by a significant margin.
"As of Dec 31, 2007, up to 98.7 per cent of building approvals had been issued, which means only 1.3 per cent was still pending.
"As for the number of Certificates of Fitness for Occupation (CFOs) that have been approved, the percentage stands at a healthy 99 per cent."
He added that it was quite embarrassing to know that Malaysia was ranked 67th by the World Bank when it came to registering properties within a country.
"If we are to improve on our overall 'Doing Business' ranking of 24th in the world and hope to break into the Top 10 by 2010, then something drastic has to be done."
Gnanalingam added that other improvements to accelerate property transactions in the country were in the pipeline.
"Soon, we will have online and electronic notification to applicants for document collection, and the establishment of standard procedures for registering property at all land offices."
He said that the latest changes, which were now being cleared with various ministries, would be in place by the end of the year.
The Housing and Local Government Ministry has also introduced several changes to expedite the issuance of development orders and building plans.
One of the most significant changes is replacing the CFO with the professionally-issued Certificate of Completion and Compliance, which can be released by qualified industry experts such as engineers or architects.
Asked how he felt about the progress Pemudah was making in reforming business facilitation, Gnanalingam replied that Pemudah was pleased with its progress.
"However, we are not satisfied. We must keep this momentum going by continuously raising standards and benchmarking against the best."
He said Pemudah had begun instilling a corporate culture of serving with integrity and zero tolerance for corruption.
"The response has been positive as members of the civil service are going the extra mile to effect the change." |
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