‘P2P FACILITY MAY OPEN GOVT TO ALLEGATIONS’
Right way to go is to request for proposals from as many parties as possible, says PM’s media adviser
THE Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Datuk A. Kadir Jasin, says the manner in which the peer-to-peer (P2P) housing scheme is handled may expose the government to allegations of cronyism and nepotism.
“While it is customary for the government to accept proposals from the public, the manner in which the P2P funding was made public may expose the government to allegation of cronyism and nepotism.
“Yes, the finance minister can announce this as a policy. But the right way to go about doing this is to request for proposals from as many parties as possible so that the government has many options.
“Of course, we want this project to succeed. But this is the first ever such financing scheme in the world and we cannot stop the people from wondering and asking questions,” he wrote on his blog yesterday.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Sunday said the property crowdfunding solution announced in 2019 Budget was the first of its kind in the world and it would allow first time housebuyers to pay only 20 per cent to own a house, while the remaining 80 per cent would be borne by investors via the peerto-peer financing framework.
Dr Mahathir also believes that the scheme will boost the implementation of one million (affordable) houses in 10 years as promised in the Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto.
In the Budget announcement, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had said the government would be approving the property crowdfunding platforms from the private sector to serve as an alternative source of financing for first-time housebuyers.
Lim said the Securities Commission (SC) will regulate these platforms under the P2P financing framework.
Kadir wrote: “A Singaporebased fund manager commented: ‘I read this property crowdfunding thing. There is no such thing as get-fixed-quick scheme. Usually, these schemes end up badly with poor mums and pops losing money and ultimately, a government bailout like the subprime crisis. I hope the Malaysian government looks at this carefully and not allow unscrupulous businessmen to make money off the unsuspecting’.”
On another matter, Kadir said a former minister had pointed out to him that a deputy minister had gone on television to discuss the Budget before it was presented.
“He argued that budget is a highly-confidential document as it involved taxes and critical policies. As a general rule, even ministers are not involved or are in the know. They are only generally briefed about it.
“What this former minister is driving at is that confidentiality is important when planning and drafting the budget, and civil servants must be given due respect and recognition.”