Susan shows her nomination form which she submitted yesterday. With her, from left, are Willie, Ten An, Loh, Chong and Koh.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Assocoiation (Shareda) president Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen yesterday announced that she will be seeking reelection for a final two-year term.
Susan is expected to face Shareda vice president Francis Goh in the contest for the top job during the election in conjunction with Shareda’s 20th annual general meeting on March 27. Goh had on Sunday announced his intention to vie for the post.
She told a press conference here yesterday that during the annual general meeting of Shareda in March last year, two-thirds of the members voted for the amendment to the association’s constitution to increase the maximum number of two-year terms a member can serve as the president to three from two previously
Susan, who said her priority is to look after the interests of the 163 Shareda members, submitted her nomination form to Shareda secretariat yesterday. Her nomination was proposed by Dapan Holdings Sdn Bhd, seconded by Mega Sunwise Sdn Bhd.
“I offer myself for the last term as the president to serve the members. I hope the members will continue to give their support to me,” she said
All nominations for the Shareda council election have to be submitted by 2pm on March 5.
The March 27 election will see nominated candidates vying for 11 positions, namely president, deputy president, two vice presidents, secretary-general, treasurer-general and five council members.
Susan said ever since she was elected as president of Shareda in 2009, she has been pursuing several issues that are close to the hearts of its members.
“While some of them have been successfully addressed, there are still some which need more time to resolve,” she said.
One of the unresolved issues is Shareda’s bid to obtain 999-year lease for subdivided titles for lands with 999-year leasehold master title.
Susan said the Land and Survey Department and the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) are helping to prepare the analysis report on the proposal to be submitted to the State Cabinet.
“Although it takes time to get approval, we will not give up, we will continue to pursue,” she said.
Shareda is also working with the Government to secure an early release of the five per cent Bankers’ Guarantee (BG) once the housing project is completed.
Susan said the BG policy, which requires developers to place five per cent of the total development cost as guarantee, has successfully prevented developers from abandoning housing projects in Sabah.
“However, we are required to continue placing the five per cent BG for 18 months in maintenance period after the projects have obtained the Occupation Certificate (OC), which we feel is a burden to our members,” she said
Susan said Shareda requested that 80 per cent of the five per cent BG be released after the project is completed and the OC has been issued.
“We have submitted the request to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing under the leadership of Datuk Haji Hajiji Haji Noor, and he has promised to look into it,” she said/
She said development plans (DP) are now being approved faster with the Central Board meeting more often, a result of Shareda’s dialogues with the ministry.
Susan said Shareda was revived by its former chairman Datuk Yong Loi Thiam in 1992 following its suspension in 1989.
At that time, the association had neither money in its account nor premises. A number of developers came together as committee members and held meetings at Yong’s office.
She said all the secretarial work was done in her own office, by her secretary, who also served as Shareda’s secretary back then.
In his 10-year leadership, Yong laid a strong foundation for Shareda and acquired a quarter of the existing premises at Beverly Hills with donations, including RM20,000 from himself and RM200,000 from the late Datuk Seri Panglima Wong Kwok.
Yong was succeeded by Haji Abu Bakar M. Yahya (2001-2004) , followed by Datuk Kong Kwok Wah (2005-2008).
Susan took over the helm from 2009. Today, Shareda’s secretariat owns four lots of office space complete with a working space, meeting room and a library.
“It costs RM390,000 to run the secretariat, but subscription fees from members only amount to RM160,000 a year,” she said, adding that the remaining funds were raised through Shareda Nite and its annual property exhibition (Propex) with the surplus was saved for the future.
Susan thanked all members for their support in her four years as the president of Shareda, and urged them to continue supporting her bid for a final term.
If there is a contest for Shareda presidency on March 27, it would be the third in the assocaition’s history, with the first against Yong in 1998 and the second between Abu Bakar and Kong in 2001.
Present at the press conference were Shareda deputy president Datuk Robin Loh, vice president Wong Ten An, council members Willie Wong Chik Hing, Datuk Ir Chong Hon Len and Johnson Koh Yong Siang.