DBKK has no objection to proceed with issuance of condo’s OC, assures Mayor

KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu City Hall has no objection to proceed with the issuance of Occupation Certificate (OC) for the One Jesselton Condominium development, assured its Mayor Datuk Seri Dr Sabin Samitah (pic) on Friday (Feb 16).

Responding to the recent articles about the plight highlighted by the 125 buyers of the condo units, he said the OC would be processed and issued once City Hall received the application from the consultant.

Recent news coverage on the issue had claimed of the OC delay due to regulations with regards to the ceiling height of 2.05m of the building basement, which was the entrance to the condominium’s lower ground car park.

However, Deputy Controller of Housing Stanley Chong Hon Chung who was state Local Government and Housing Ministry deputy permanent secretary 1, in an earlier report said there was no reason to delay the OC as the project was done in full compliance of with the 2016 approved Building Plan.

His sentiment was echoed by the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) Sabah chapter earlier on Friday that reviewed related documents, stating that the three documents concerned were silent on ceiling height and therefore the building basement was deemed compliant if its height was built according to the approved building plan.

“It is never our intention to withheld or delay the issuance of OC.

“City Hall is taking all the actions to ensure that upon issuance of the OC, the functionality of the building is well taken care of.

“It is my hope that the consultant can submit all the relevant documents, so that City Hall can process soonest.

“Once OC is issued, buyers can move in and start their new year in their new home,” Sabin said in a statement here.

He also clarified that City Hall was not assessing the development based on new building requirement, as many parties were trying to portray.

“As for as the height headroom of the two-storey carpark is concerned, the issue of bringing in new requirement or Uniformed Building Bylaws (2022) should not be on issue at all.

“The gist of the issue is, in the absence of a well-written height of the headroom, the solution shall be, such height of headroom shall be constructed as what being practised or adopted during the time of construction.

“In reality, the Building Bylaws 1951 requires a height of 9ft (2.7m), while the UBBL 2022 just requires a minimum height of 2.3m.

“All this while, City Hall is stressing the need of adhering to a minimum height to ensure the convenient and comfort of the buyers of the condominium.

“A mere reference to the UBBL 2022 is very much for the purposes of understanding the minimum height required and never to impose any new requirement,” he reasoned.

He said in this regard in order to avoid any untoward incident, it will be necessary for the developer/interim management to install appropriate signage indicating the height restriction to the carparks.