Rehda calls for a Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill to protect all industries

The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia or Rehda urge the government to introduce an all-encompassing force majeure exemption bill or a Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill to lawfully protect players of all industries, including the property sector.

Rehda president Datuk Soam Heng Choon said the Bill is much needed, to ensure that every party is safeguarded against any form of penalisation that would be imposed under normal circumstances.

"For instance, in the property sector, buyers are now unable to fulfill their obligations with regards to various processes like completing documentation and progress payment which must be made within 21 days, due to the financial institutions’ scaled down operations in adherence to the MCO.

"Developers are also likely not able to meet their completion deadlines as a result of the MCO which has affected the whole supply chain, thus it will take longer to achieve optimum output from construction activities on site," he said in a statement.

Soam said that Rehda believes the enactment of such a Bill will be beneficial not only to purchasers, developers, financiers, and other property industry players but also those in other industries that form Malaysia’s economic ecosystem.

"It will go a long way to protect all parties to any contract from being deemed to be in breach of the contract due to the inability to perform any obligation of the contracts," he said.

The two weeks Movement Control Order (MCO) which commenced on 18 March 2020 and has since been extended further to 14 April 2020 has resulted in all non-essential activities being halted.

The enforcement of MCO has impacted the livelihood of the rakyat in all industries across the board with many parties being unable to perform their contractual obligations.

Rehda lauds the government for the many moves and measures taken to protect the rakyat who are facing difficulties in meeting their financial obligations during these trying times.

"This unprecedented pandemic outbreak is expected to have long-term effects in all imaginable aspects. As such, we call upon the government to give due consideration to the Bill, to ensure that all Malaysians will not be further burdened unnecessarily."