Seremban MP Anthony Loke said the practice of giving EOT for projects was biased and caused losses to buyers, allowing housing developers to slacken in completing their projects.
“The EOT is unfair to buyers. When developers have problems and are unable to manage them well, they request for EOT. This allows them to lengthen the time frame of construction,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat.
Loke said affected buyers lost the right to claim for compensation from a developer granted EOT.
“Buyers who fail to meet payments on time, having signed an agreement with the bank, have to pay interest,” he said.
“But developers late in building homes do not need to pay interest if they gain EOT.”
Noh acknowledged the issue, saying the ministry oversaw all aspects of a case, including the parties involved, when handling the matter.
“What you have said is certainly true but it is from the buyer’s point of view. It must be remembered that the ministry sees to the interests of all parties, including buyer and seller.
“The buyer and seller have an agreement. We understand this, and in taking into account the buyer’s interest, we must look at the developer’s interests as well.”
Noh, however, denied the ministry arbitrarily awarded an EOT to developers. He said due investigations were done to vet every application.
“We do not make decisions arbitrarily. We send our officers on the ground.”
He added that nine applications were passed during the time of his predecessor, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, and four have been passed under him.
Rahman, who is now minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, had served as urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister from May 2013 until June 2016.
On Feb 27, the High Court ruled against developer BHL Construction Sdn Bhd over a 12-month EOT given by Rahman which resulted in house buyers not being able to claim compensation.
Rahman has said his former ministry will be filing an appeal against the court’s landmark decision.
Two DAP members in Penang – Satees Muniandy and P David Marshel – lodged a police report on the extension issue last month.
They showed documents that featured a letter dated Oct 20, 2014 from BHL Construction to the licensing unit of the urban wellbeing, housing and local government ministry to request for an extension.
They also highlighted a letter by Mohamad Yusoff Ghazali from the Housing Control section of the ministry rejecting BHL’s request for EOT on Oct 24, and a letter from Faridah Begum KA Abdul Kader, reportedly the wife of the attorney-general, to Rahman on Oct 28 asking for the extension.
Rahman not worried about probe into extension given to developer