Pua, who is Petaling Jaya Utara MP, today said the High Court had in its decision on Monday stated that the minister had no such power.
“What ‘power’ is the minister harping about?” he said, referring to the ruling that a housing controller has no authority to amend contracted delivery dates, and that developers must compensate buyers for delays in handing over vacant possession.
“The Court ruling has stated clearly that the minister has no power under Section 24 of the Housing and Development (Control and Licensing) Act, to empower housing controllers to waive or change any of the terms and conditions of the prescribed statutory agreement,” Pua said in a statement.
The ministry under Rahman’s tenure from 2013 to 2016 had approved an EOT appeal for a condominium project by BHL Construction Sdn Bhd. The appeal was supported by a letter from the wife of Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali.
Rahman, who is now a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, has explained that an extension is only given after stringent checks by the ministry and if a developer faces delays due to circumstances beyond its control like flooding and new regulations by authorities.
“The most important and difficult questions we face are if the housing project will be abandoned by the developer should an extension not be granted, and will the house buyers be in a worse off position should that happen,” Rahman said.
“Hence, we give due consideration to the less painful impact of a delay and the house buyers waiving their right to compensation, against the whole project being abandoned.” He added that the ministry’s officers will determine if the circumstances facing the developer were genuine or not.
Rahman denied abusing his power to grant the EOT, saying the decision was based on merit.
But Pua also questioned this, saying Rahman in his explanation failed to specify what the merits were.
“What could be so convincing and justifiable in the appeal by the developer, other than the fact that it was put forth by the wife of the attorney-general, which moved the minister to arbitrarily extend the completion date of the housing project by 12 months, resulting in millions of ringgit of losses by the house buyers?
“Among the primary roles of the minister is to safeguard the interests of Malaysian home buyers against incompetent and unscrupulous developers.
“Barring perhaps acts of God, the minister should never interfere in a transaction, especially if it was to clearly result in substantial losses to the house buyers,” Pua said.
“Instead of granting approvals for extensions to developers and penalising house buyers, the minister should have warned the developer that the government will not hesitate to assist home buyers in asserting their rights should the former fail to deliver their promises,” Pua said.