KUCHING: The Sarawak Tribunal for Housing Purchaser Claims has directed CMS Property Development Sdn Bhd to pay RM5,000 each to three Bandar Baru Samariang house buyers for a discrepancy involving the type of bricks used.

The Tribunal found that despite cement bricks posing no safety hazards when used in “non load bearing” walls, the developer was wrong to have stated that it would use red bricks in its advertisements.

A non load bearing wall is one that is not weighed own by something heavy like part of a roof or some other heavy things.

“I understand there was a problem of communication. You (developer) have to bear it. This problem has a cost to you,” Tribunal president Datuk Maznah Dasmi told two representatives of CMS Property Development Sdn Bhd yesterday.

Maznah and the Tribunal panel came to the decision after a lengthy two-day hearing, involving all the house buyers and testimonies from an architect.

Held at the former State Legislative Assembly Complex, the complaints had been filed based on claims that the cement bricks had led to water seepage into the walls of the houses, causing discoloration and hairline cracks.

Almost an hour of the hearing was spent on whether cement bricks were “equivalent or superior” to red bricks.

The architect said there was no difference between red or cement bricks when used in “non load bearing partitions”.

He told the Tribunal water seepage could be caused by a multitude of other factors.

Maznah, however, asked the architect what type of bricks he would use to build his own house, to which the architect replied: “Red bricks.” The amount each of the house buyers received was based on price differences between red and cement bricks.

Maznah said she had to be fair to both parties and said the amount was for the house owners to “change the bricks at their own time”.

Nonetheless, she also ordered CMS Property Development Sdn Bhd to investigate the water seepage in all parts of the complainants’ houses.

Maznah said the developer would be responsible for submitting investigative reports within two weeks by an architect to the Tribunal, adding that the reports would form the basis of repairs. An itemised list of complaints for the developer to look into was prepared by the Tribunal.

These included one complainant who claimed that his property had drainage problems while another alleged that the house windows were “rough”.

The Tribunal also directed the developer to change all plywood doors to solid wood ones.

CMS Property Development Sdn Bhd representatives told the Tribunal that it would “not run away from its responsibility”. “We will definitely rectify to the satisfaction of the house owners.”

Later, a company press statement added: “We accept and will honour the decision of the Tribunal and we would like to thank the members of the panel for their speedy and fair decision.”

• Malaysia tycoon Vincent Tan plans IPO of football club Cardiff City
• Google, like Facebook, in talks to buy Waze for about US$1bil
• Crown selling entire 10% in rival Echo, partly owned by Genting(Update)
• First edition of 'Great Gatsby' to be sold at auction, can fetch US$150,000
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Markets face rough summer ride as Fed pullback feared
• Wall Street sags, HP hits 52-week high
• Commodities trader sues BP, Shell others for alleged oil price fixing
• Billionaire Icahn seeks up to US$7bil for Dell bid
• Google faces new federal antitrust probe
• Goldman Sachs unveils checks on conflicts in bid to fix tarnished image
• Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
• Maybank bullish on growth, to expand regionally under new leadership
• Khazanah appoints Nor Mohamed deputy chairman
• Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August

• British police arrest two men on diverted Pakistan flight (Updated)
• Britain scrambles fighter jets to escort Pakistani passenger plane
• 5,000 cave paintings discovered in Mexico
• Cars, schools ablaze in fifth night of Stockholm riots
• London's Heathrow airport closed after emergency landing
• Far East quake felt in Moscow, tsunami warning lifted
• Police make new arrests in London soldier killing
• Britain's press demands jailing of Islamist preacher
• Tsunami warning in Russia's Far East after 8.2 quake
• US bridge collapse sends cars, people into river
• Strong quake strikes off Tonga
• Jury fails to decide on US murderer death sentence
• One killed in Brazil giant fuel depot blaze

• British Open: Nicol David deals with disruptions for semi spot
• Kingston leads, McIlroy in Wentworth woe
• LPGA plans 12-hole rounds in water-logged Bahamas
• Ryan Palmer sizzles with 62 to seize lead at Colonial
• Kelly overcomes scare to clinch title in KLGCC
• Time to make amends Garcia wants to meet Woods to defuse racist row
• American Johnson back to defend Colonial crown
• Rain dampens debut of LPGA Bahamas event
• Tianlang adds another US event to schedule
• Clock ticking for next golden generation
• Nadal wants to create history at Roland Garros
• Serena out to tame French Open demons
• Zheng Jie stuns Wozniacki in Brussels
• British Open: Ramy Ashour racks up 38th successive win
• Nicol David sails into quarter-finals of British Open in 35 minutes

• Please wait.

• KL car number plates to bear ‘W1A’
• Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
• Singapore GDP growth surprises, beats economists’ forecast of contraction
• Tian, Tamrin and Haris released after remand denied (updated)
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Inventions a-plenty, but no real innovation
• Robber shot dead after attacking out-of-uniform cop with meat cleaver
• Thousands throng thanksgiving rally by DAP
• EC: Photograph of ‘blackout’ on polling day was a lie
• Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August