--------------------------------------------------- Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help other CONSUMERS to be better informed. ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Flat Owners of Salcete call for legislation to protect their interest ----------------------------------------------------------------- At a largely attended meeting held in Margao, Flat Owners of Salcete Taluka expressed their determination to become self-aware of the rules and procedures applicable to themselves and spread the message of unity amongst other Flat owners in their localities.
The meeting held at Loyola High School Hall Margao was the second in the series as part of the Awareness Campaign organised by GOACAN and drew an enthusiastic response from men, women and Senior Citizens from various parts of Margao and the surrounding villages of Salcete. In his welcome address, Roland Martins, Co-ordinator GOACAN gave an overview of the purpose and scope of the Awareness Campaign on the Rights of the Flat Owners. He stated that while there is a need for Flat Owners to have a State Level Association, it is also important that a Salcete Taluka Association is set up to deal with the issues of Water Supply, Electricity, Garbage Management, Parking, Sewerage & Sanitation as well as the Outline Development Plans (ODP’s), Taxation by the State Govt. & local self-governing bodies. He stated that the Registrar of Co-operative Societies must play a pro-active role in the defense of the Rights of the Flat Owners and that Government needs to put in place a legislation to protect the interest of the Flat Owners in Goa. He also stated that in view of the forthcoming Municipal Elections, Flat Owners, Residents Associations and Housing Societies must see themselves as active participants in making Democracy work at the local level. He assured the gathering that GOACAN and the Civic and Consumer Forums will extend all the support in this very important movement of Flat Owners for their Rights. Mr. Vijay Kapoor, a concerned Flat owner from Zuarinagar made a presentation on general guidelines for Flat Buyers and Owners. The points he covered were things to do before buying a flat, after deciding to buy a flat, after the purchase of a Flat and what to do in case of problems. He also tackled queries related to the flat owner’s rights to parking facilities which is a bone of contention for the residents once they occupy the flats and use the building premises. Anil C Devulker of Vailankinni Hsg Complex in Fatorda described the ordeal he and other flat owners had to go through. Although full payment for the flats was made, much of the incomplete construction had to be undertaken by them using their own personal funds. Amin Jiwani of Rijim Classic, Malbhat nr. Hari Mandir described in detail the problems of flat owners that arise when a builder is a family member or a relative. He further cautioned the other participants that many a time a builder might negotiate to install a mobile tower on the terrace of the building without consulting the Flat Owners. Manohar G. Naik of Kurtarkar Avenue, Aquem described the various attempts to undertake the formation of society by preparing the forms and documentation required but was bogged down by the forms are not filled correctly due to technical errors. Sameer Dessai of Sapana Heritage, Margao pointed out to the participants that being a well informed flat owner through self awareness is very crucial for obtaining justice. He narrated the scenario in many a case where there is a mis-match in the number of car park facilities to the number of flats and he cautioned the flat owners to ensure that every flat is provided a car park facility. Maurice Colaco of Damodar Chambers Hsg Society, Margao highlighted the inequalities of the maintenance charges wherein some flat owners find themselves paying for facilities that they do not use on a day to day basis. He cited the example of lift services to one part of the building which has 5 floors while the other part of the building has 3 floors but no lift services. He reminded the participants that builders most often turn parking facilities meant for flat owners into shops and godowns. Agnelo Lobo of Rosary Commercial Arcade Bldg, Navelim narrated the issues that arise in a commercial complex where the number of shops are twice the number of resident flats and maintenance issues of toilet facilities and cost of water supply etc. give rise to constant disputes between the Housing Society members. Sanjay Dalvi of Aquem gave a detailed account of his seven year long battle in the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum over the deficiencies in the building. He reminded the participants that litigation against the builder is a very arduous and long haul struggle which many times may end with a negative result for the consumer and demoralize the Flat Owner from going ahead in further litigation. Godfrey Gonsalves of Hillside Apts., Borda, Margao while stressing the need for legislation to protect the interest of Flat Owners in the State of Goa, pointed out that a draft bill that is available with the Goa Legislative Assembly could be examined when preparing a comprehensive new Act. Joseph N.V.Fernandes of Silver Towers, Margao pointed out that the problem that arise between the Chairperson of a Hsg Society and an individual Flat owner should also be given due consideration whilst putting dispute redressal systems in place in the proposed draft legislation . Judith Almeida of Colva Civic and Consumer Forum, narrated of a case where a builder has purposefully wrongly recorded the survey numbers of the land on which the building is constructed there by causing hardship to the Flat Owners, she also pointed out that Flat Owners could face problems when a part of a residential building is converted into a hotel complex. Nandan Prabhudessai of the Jairam Complex Residents Association of Mala, Panaji gave a presentation on the steps taken by the residents who formed a core committee to unite all the Flat Owners in the face of the divide and rule tactics adopted by the builder. He emphasised that the non-formation of the Society puts the flat owners perennially at the mercy of the builder and cited an example of when a resident wants to resell his flat, the owner has to depend upon the builder for an NOC for which the builder then uses this opportunity to extract large amounts of money for this purpose. Dr. Govind G Kamat of the Jairam Complex Residents Association, Panaji, in his inspiring speech pointed out that his journey as a Flat Owner began exactly 13 years ago on 9th May 1997 and his self learning of these issues although being a medical professional has contributed to providing leadership to the Core Committee in their ongoing agitation. He narrated in detail the various phases of their agitation and tackled various queries posed by the participants on the issues faced by the Flat Owners of Salcete based on his experience gathered over the last 10 years. He called upon the flat owners at the meeting to put aside the small differences that may arise in their respective Housing Societies and be ready to face criticism during the struggle in the larger interest of achieving the goal of legislation to protect Flat owners in Goa. The meeting ended with a decision to hold building level consultations so that all the participating flat owners can prepare necessary documentation on the issues faced by them so that follow-up meetings can be convened to tackle these issues keeping in mind the need to form the Salcete Taluka Flat Owners Association. ---------------------------------------------------------- GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK ---------------------------------------------------------- promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa ---------------------------------------------------------- GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601 GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507 mail: [email protected] Visit: http://goacan.blogspot.com ----------------------------------------------------------
