Menara City One Covid-19 case proof that property management is crucial

Property Management should be included in the list of ‘essential services’ for Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) which is on-going to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus outbreak in the country.

The Malaysian Institute of Professional Estate Agents and Consultants (MIPEAC) president Francis Loh said property management, with services involving cleaning, security, lift maintenance and utility supply would help in the efforts to battle the spread of Covid-19 in stratified buildings.

This is crucial especially for residential buildings, following the MCO now extended to 14 April 2020 and the enhanced MCO (EMCO) on Menara City One condominium tower in Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur, the third area put under lockdown after Simpang Renggam in Johor and Sungai Lui in Selangor.

The EMCO on Menara City One has directly affected 3,200 residents, the majority of whom are foreigners in 502 residential units and business premises due to 17 positive cases of Covid-19 there.

Until April 13, no one can enter or leave the building except for food delivery service workers, who are only allowed to drop off food at the lobby.

Loh said this situation has made it even more crucial that strata buildings with Covid-19 cases be managed and sanitized daily with increased frequency over at least 14 days after each case to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 clusters in the affected strata buildings.

However, Loh said the police roadblocks have become more stringent as the MCO period progresses to the extent that a number of the property management personnel have been blocked from reaching these strata buildings to carry out the important and critical functions.

“To keep the residents to stay at home in the strata buildings, the essential services such as electricity, water, cleaning, and disinfecting, security and lifts need to be maintained to avoid any disruptions of such essential services. Non-essentials like swimming pool, gymnasium, business premises and all common facilities can remain close,” he said.

Loh said the property management team needs to be onsite in these strata buildings to maintain the essential services therein to enable the residents to stay at home to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“Such strata buildings which are communal living premises which if not managed can easily become the epicenter of the spread of COVID-19 infections,” he added.

Source: NST