“From now on, we will be very strict in our checks.

“We will ask for every single detail such as their address and such until we are satisfied.

“There is no reason for someone from Farlim to come all the way to Jelutong just to get food. Aren’t there any food in Farlim? Or for that matter, someone from Tanjung Tokong going all the way to Pulau Tikus to get food.

“Under Phase 1 and 2 of the MCO, motorists may have escaped using such trivial reasons. Not anymore. Enough is enough.

“Under Phase 3, if you can’t provide valid and strong reasons to be on the road, then be prepared to face action,” he said when met at the snap check at Jalan Perak here today.

Soffian said police would now verify every excuse given by motorists stopped at roadblocks to the extent of following them home as additional step to strictly enforce the MCO.

He said for those using excuse of buying food for their elderly parents, police might even escort them to see if they were telling the truth.

Soffian said they would identify more hotspots from time to time according to traffic assessment or assesment by the respective police station chiefs.

“Take for example between 10am and 2pm or between 2pm and 6pm, by right, there should not be heavy traffic on the road because those who needed to report for duties, would have done so already.

However, based on our checks yesterday, many motorists were still giving us trivial reasons.

“As such, we will set up more snap checks to ensure everyone fully abide by the MCO, otherwise, it will not be fair for those who are strictly observing the stay-at-home order.

“We hope everyone will be more aware and responsible in their actions so that we can help stop the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.” he added.

Source: NST Online

The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) is advising the public to be cautious in buying and selling properties during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period to avoid falling prey to scams.

MIEA noted that amid the MCO, the majority of Malaysians who are keen to buy or sell property will be relying on online platforms.

“Be extra vigilant as there are still a high number of cases where the general public has fallen prey to these property pitfalls,” it said yesterday.

MIEA president Lim Boon Ping highlighted that registered estate agents (REA) and negotiators (REN) are recognised as professionals under Malaysian law and that there are firm requirements that need to be adhered to when publishing an advertisement in order to protect the public’s interest.

Among others, they are required to include their name, REN/REA number, contact number and the real estate firm they represent with its E registration number and the firm’s telephone number, which the public can verify on www.lppeh.gov.my.

“There will a sudden surge on online and offline advertisement by those illegal brokers who will take advantage on the Covid-19 rise in low priced property deals and these advertisements will not contain the before-mentioned authenticity information and the public should avoid calling them,“ warned Lim.

He reminded that if one sees an advertisement or a property deal that looks “too good to be true”, be extra cautious and do your research”.

“Always engage a registered estate agent or a certified negotiator to verify these potential property deals,“ added Lim.

Source: Bernama

The flyover along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah here will be closed to traffic from George Town heading to Bayan Lepas from Monday (April 13) following the extension of the movement control order (MCO).

Southwest district OCPD Supt A. Anbalagan said the closure was meant to limit public movement and at the same time, manage traffic flow at various locations in the district.

“The road closure will start from Tapak Pesta Sungai Nibong, which will be closed starting 7am on April 13,” he said in a statement Sunday (April 12).

Supt Anbalagan, however, said the flyover would still be open to traffic coming from Bayan Lepas heading to George Town.

He said vehicles coming from George Town going toward Bayan Lepas will be diverted to the roads beneath the flyover.

“Vehicles plying the road from George Town can still go to Bayan Lepas using the diverted road,” he said.

Supt Anbalagan said a total of seven roadblocks had been mounted by police since the first day of the MCO, with another one to be set up near Sungai Nibong Shell station in efforts to limit the movement of public in south west district.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Tang and Ng (not their real names) entered into separate sale and purchase agreements last month, paying 10% as deposit to buy a house each in Petaling Jaya and Puchong.

The properties were priced at RM1.8 million and RM900,000. Tang paid RM180,000 while Ng paid RM90,000.

However, both instructed their lawyer this week to discontinue the agreements due to uncertainty following the Covid-19 outbreak.

R Kengadharan says this may be because they want to use the cash to buy other properties at cheaper prices.

He said Tang was to have taken a bank loan amounting to 40% of the house price to pay for the house while Ng was to have paid cash to acquire the property.

“The terms and conditions of the property sales allow the vendors (sellers) to forfeit the deposit but I am trying to get at least 50% of the amount back through negotiation,” he told FMT.

Kengadharan said there were several other house buyers who were prepared to forego their deposits as they could use the money to buy choice properties at a lower price during the crisis.

“I know of people who are cash-rich who will buy such properties and sell them at premium value to recoup their losses from forfeiting the deposit amounts,” he added.

With prices going down, Kengadharan believes those with cash will enter the property market so as to make money when the economy improves later.

Property valuer Huan Cheng Kee said it was common for property prices to take a beating following any economic or financial crisis, and for those with cash to buy properties.

He said not only would demand for residential homes be affected, commercial and retail properties too would suffer the impact of the pandemic as some people would likely lose their jobs when employers wind up their operations or cut costs.

“Our property market had already been weak since January and Covid-19 has made it worse.

“The question is, how long and how deep will the problem be,” said Huan who has been in the industry for about 40 years.

Lawyer T Gunaseelan said he expected many disputes over breach of agreements in the purchase of properties to end in court in the months to come.

“Sellers will go for specific performance in compelling buyers to honour the agreements to acquire properties if there is no forfeiture clause,” he said.

He said parties might also use a “force majeure” clause to keep from performing their side of the bargain unless the agreements contain an exemption clause in the form of a suspension, waiver or termination of the contract.

Force majeure means that a party to a contract is prevented from fulfilling his or her obligations due to unforeseeable circumstances.

“It will also be interesting to observe the attitude of the courts in settling commercial disputes,” he added.

Source: Free Malaysia Today

The movement control order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country has been further extended to April 28, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

In a live telecast, he said the MCO had helped healthcare workers contain the spread of the infection.

He added that the country’s death rates were low compared to the global toll, and that the number of new cases had also dropped.

“If the trend continues to drop, we can curb it from spreading, but we cannot take it easy,” he said.

The order, implemented on March 18, was initially supposed to end on March 31. It was later extended to April 14.

Under the MCO, all government and private businesses were shut down except for essential services such as water and electricity, telecommunications, transport, banking and food supply.

In the second phase of the MCO, a 10km travel restriction was imposed with leeway to be given if essential services or items cannot be found within the vicinity.

Members of the public were also barred from carrying passengers in their vehicles except during emergencies, with a 6am-10pm curfew for all vehicles including those used for e-hailing.

Hypermarkets, grocery stores and petrol stations meanwhile were only allowed to operate from 8am to 8pm.

Source: Free Malaysia Today