KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan has denied any abuse of power when he was the Urban Wellbeing Housing and Local Government Minister to extend the delivery date for a condominium on behalf of a developer.
The current Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said his then decision was made within his powers of a Federal minister and not for personal interest.
“In the particular case referred to by the DAP, there is no abuse of power when I was KPKT minister.
“The decision I took was based on the powers clearly given to KPKT minister as stated in Act 118 (Housing Developement Act),” Abdul Rahman said in a statement referring to the Malay acronym for his former ministry.
A police report was lodged against him on Tuesday by the Penang DAP — including Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy — who alleged that the federal minister misused his powers to grant a 12-month extension to a condo developer in Jalan Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur.
This came after a High Court ruling allowed a judicial review from 104 house buyers to set aside Abdul Rahman’s extension order as it was against the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act.
The Sabahan lawmaker, however, claimed that DAP should not be too quick to jump the gun as the court ruling is soon to be challenged by the housing ministry.
“I believe the DAP leaders used the High Court decision as the basis for their highly defamatory conclusion. This basis will be challenged as KPKT will be appealing the verdict,” Abdul Rahman said.
He also stressed that all extension of time done for projects during his time as housing minister was based on merit and not favouritism.
“No support letters can supersede the stringent procedures in approving the extension of time applications. In fact, support letters have no value in determining the approval. Those letters, at best, are just formalities and pleasantries,” Abdul Rahman added.
Free Malaysia Today reported that the developer, BHL Construction Sdn Bhd, who was supposed to complete the condo project in 36 months failed to meet the deadline and appealed to the housing ministry.
The appeal was rejected at first but then allowed by Abdul Rahman who gave them an additional 12 months to complete the project in November 2015.
