Update on Vistana Heights: My Direct Appeal to YB Datuk Shafie Apdal

 

Dear readers,

It has now been more than three years since I first lodged a formal complaint with the Lembaga Juruukur Sabah (LJS) on 15 December 2022 regarding the allegedly fabricated “as-built” survey plans for Taman Puncak Vistana (Vistana Heights Phase 1), Iramanis. The plans were submitted by the licensed survey firm Jurukur Terra Firma and accepted by Dewan Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu (DBKK). The core issue remains the unexplained and significant discrepancy between the actual road level and my son Faisal’s house platform — a problem that should have been easily resolved with proper survey data.

Despite repeated follow-ups, multiple reminders, and even a physical site visit by LJS Committee members on 28 June 2023 (more than six months after my initial complaint), no survey report or drawings based on the points taken that day have ever been released to me. The latest communication from the Board, dated 15 January 2025, simply states:

“Please be informed that the Board is still looking into your complaint about the As-built survey plans for Taman Puncak Vistana, Iramanis due to further verification from the authority.”

You can read the full email and my immediate reply here: LINK

All I have ever asked for is the identity of this mysterious “authority” that LJS claims is holding up the release of a survey report that was already carried out on site in 2023.

 

My Direct Engagement with YB Datuk Shafie Apdal

On 5 February 2025 I emailed YB Datuk Shafie Apdal directly. I reminded him that the Vistana Heights project was approved during his term as Chief Minister of Sabah. I politely asked him to help identify the authority that LJS is waiting for. You can read the full email here: LINK

 

On 4 September 2025, I personally went to YB Datuk Shafie Apdal’s residence in Golf View, Kota Kinabalu, and left a message requesting a meeting. Within a few hours he telephoned me. I briefly explained the ongoing problem affecting my son Faisal’s house at Vistana Heights and repeated my simple request: please help us find out who this “authority” is so that LJS can finally release the survey report.

That was the last I heard from him.

Why This Matters — Especially Now

This is not just a personal grievance. It is a clear example of institutional inertia, lack of transparency, and accountability in Sabah’s professional regulatory bodies. A licensed survey firm allegedly submits fabricated plans. A regulatory board conducts a site inspection with its own committee members present. Yet more than 1,000 days later, the public — and the affected homeowner — are still told “we are waiting for verification from the authority” without any explanation of who that authority is or when the matter will be resolved.

This is especially important now as there are numerous Facebook posts by members of Warisan actively promoting the party and positioning it as a credible alternative for Sabah’s next state government. If even the President of Parti Warisan Sabah — a former Chief Minister— cannot obtain a straight answer from LJS on such a straightforward matter, what does that say about the party’s ability to deliver good governance, transparency, and accountability should they return to power?

I will continue to document every step of this saga here on Luqman’s Musings.

Faisal and I are not going away. Sabahans deserve better than endless bureaucratic excuses and political silence.