Investment Gone Wrong

The Marina Bay Villa, once touted as the biggest developments in West Batam, Indonesia, was razed in 2005. The project was supposed to complete in 1992, but out of the 304 units, only 80 were built after 7yrs later. One owner has paid $134k for a 6 500 sf bungalow and put in another $20k in renovations.

2yrs on, the owners still drew a blank from the authorities and companies in Batam. The contract was signed in Batam and comes under Indonesian jurisdiction, but the Indonesian developer, PT Karya Sinar Batam, had since closed down and their S'pore representative, Island Club Condominium, was also not liable; hence there is no recourse to sue.

A Batam land officer believes that the houses were demolished because the building permit was invalid, and claimed that the land was owned by a S'porean.

* ST-Batam Pty , Another Owner's Woes *

*****

Some other investments gone wrong ... ...
(1) PT Magic Kingdom Island Resort Paradise, Indonesia, 2002
1 000 S'poreans paid $3.8k each to join the club, but the club went bankrupt and never started the resort project.

(2) Villa Temasek, Indonesia (Bintan), 2001
90 S'poreans paid $16k for each unit, but developer disappeared.

(3) A 816-unit Condo Project, Bangalore, 1996
40 S'poreans & M'sians lost btw US$54k - US$98k. Marketed by S'pore-based company, Chesterfield Int'l, the directors couldn't be traced when the project was aborted.

(4) Houses, China (Shandong, Qingdao), 1996
18 S'poreans paid btw $30k - $70k for each house built by Dragon Land. They turned out to be poorly constructed with no amenities.

(5) Anjung Seri Condo, M'sia (Johor Baru), 1995
37 investors paid btw RM$150k - RM$400k, but the project was never completed.