KUALA LUMPUR: The intentions of the Selangor government to place property developers on a blacklist for not meeting Bumiputera quota requirements have drawn criticism from stakeholders.

The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (REHDA) Malaysia said that developers should not be punished if they have complied with all the regulations imposed by Selangor before opening up the sale of Bumiputera units to non-Bumiputera purchasers.

According to Datuk NK Tong, its president, these units should be sold to the general public through an automated release system.

He emphasised that, as land is a state matter, there is currently no national system in place to control the imposition of Bumiputera quotas and the automatic release mechanism that follows, which would support the preservation of a thriving housing market.

"Unfortunately, this leads to a number of unintended consequences. The most obvious is to increase the number of completed but unsold units due to incorrectly labelled overhang. A more subtle, unintended consequence is to increase the prices of housing for all rakyat, including Bumiputera, as the holding costs of these unsold units get passed on.

"And finally, and perhaps most concerning, is the delayed effect, but real risk, that these unsold units may cause cash flow problems leading to late, sick, or abandoned projects," he said.

Last week, Selangor's housing and culture committee chairman Borhan Aman Shah, told the state assembly that developers who failed to meet the Bumiputera quota requirements would not be allowed to apply to the Selangor Housing and Property Board (LPHS) for the release of the Bumiputera quota and would instead be subject to harsher fines.

Tong highlighted two issues to consider when discussing developers fulfilling their obligations to adhere to the Bumiputera quota when selling properties.

"Firstly, if developers have gone ahead to sell Bumiputera quota units to non-Bumiputera purchasers prior to obtaining state consent to do so, REHDA Malaysia believes that the authorities can and should take action against these developers.

"Secondly, many developers have fulfilled the necessary requirements of advertising the Bumiputera units for sale over the required number of times for the required period, and sales to Bumiputera are still not forthcoming.

"In cases such as these, the developers should not be punished with further requirements to do so, and there should be an automatic release mechanism for these units to be sold to the general public," he said.

Tong also appealed to state governments to refrain from imposing fines on innocent homeowners who unintentionally purchased Bumiputera units from errant developers.

"We hope that these regulations are drafted, executed, and monitored in a fair and transparent manner for the benefit of the rakyat in achieving REHDA members' ultimate goal of delivering quality, affordable homes in a timely manner," he said.