Rahman Dahlan, the former minister of urban wellbeing and local government and presently minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, is trying to hide his colossal failure in protecting house buyers by saying that the Penang government too gives extensions of time (EOT) to contractors in infrastructure projects.
By trying to divert attention from his decision to grant an EOT to developer BHL Construction Sdn Bhd, Rahman has inadvertently given the appearance to the public that outside forces may have influenced him.
This is the reason why I want the Attorney-General to determine whether there was any abuse of power by Rahman when he granted an EOT to the development and whether an influential person, who had no role as the director of the BHL Company, had influenced his decision.
In order to cover his mistake, Rahman has gone to the extent of criticising the Penang state government of granting EOTs to contractors in completing their projects.
As everyone knows, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), a government-linked company wholly owned by the Penang state government, undertakes major infrastructure projects. It is not unusual for the PDC to provide EOTs to contractors if the latter is faced with circumstances beyond their control.
Since the PDC is party to the contract, it is perfectly within the bounds of the law for it to grant an EOT provided there are sufficient grounds and the welfare of buyers are not affected in any way.
However, granting an EOT to private developers for housing projects come under the jurisdiction of the ministry of housing. As provided by law, only under extra-ordinary circumstances can the minister exercise his powers judiciously to grant an EOT provided the house buyers don’t suffer monetary losses.
In the case of BHL, how could Rahman have granted the EOT when the developer was trying to escape contractual responsibility by denying penalty payments to his clients for failing to deliver condominium units within the stipulated 36 months?
Even if Rahman has powers provided by the legislation, surely unwarranted interference that will negatively affect hundreds of house buyers is something to be avoided at all costs, even if there was outside interference. Moreover, the High Court’s decision in favour of the house buyers only lends credence to the argument that Rahman could have abused his powers.
Two police reports have been lodged in Sebarang Jaya, Penang, by two members of the DAP’s Batu Kawan Parliamentary Liaison Committee on the matter of the minister’s abuse of power and the alleged role of a very important person in influencing the minister’s decision. I expect the police to act swiftly in the matter, as this has become a high profile case.
P Ramasamy is Deputy Chief Minister II, Penang.
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