Foreigners are advised to be careful in purchasing properties in Sabah after the authorities discovered that a company had toured about 1,000 Chinese nationals in an illegal real estate development on Sunday (15 October).
“It is important that we must always take precautions and put in place the necessary mechanisms to prevent unscrupulous individuals or syndicates from turning Sabah into a ‘scam hub’ that would ultimately ruin the state’s good reputation and huge potential as a vibrant investment hub,” said Tan Sri T.C Goh, President of Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS).
He said this after news broke that would-be investors from China had visited the site and were shown building models similar to Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Twin Towers, Tokyo Tower, Taipei 101 skyscraper, Eiffel Tower in Paris and Dubai’s Burj Al Khalifa in the project’s showroom.
Moreover, Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and the State Lands and Surveys Department stated that they have not given their approval to the development spanning over 2,000 acres.
Likewise, the Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA) warned people against investing in such a dubious property project.
Previously, officials from the Lands and Surveys Department went to the site on 9 October. The enforcement teams apprehended two persons and seized a bulldozer along with two excavators.
Despite the department’s intervention, the company still conducted a tour last Sunday. As such, Sabah’s concerned citizens are urging the government to impose tougher sanctions, like shutting down the showroom and arresting the firm’s top officials.
Furthermore, FCAS revealed that it plans to write to China’s Consul-General to prevent the country’s citizens from being duped by property scammers.
“We do not wish to see what’s happening in Peninsular Malaysia where over the past few months many investors from China had flown in to highlight their plight on being scammed by a certain company involved in money games, repeated here,” added Goh.
Image sourced from Assets.Hospitalityonline
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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