Pua tells EPF employee reps to reject loan scheme

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — DAP MP Tony Pua today urged employee representatives on the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) board to reject the proposed RM1.5 billion low-cost housing loan, saying it would open up the fund for further “political abuse” in future.

The DAP publicity secretary said Putrajaya’s bid to use the retirement fund’s monies to extend easy home loans to those with “extremely poor credit rating” would set a bad precedent and turn EPF into a lender of last resort for social welfare programmes, in breach of the EPF Act.

“While the prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has tried to play down the scheme by claiming that the RM1.5 billion loan is only a fraction of EPF fund size, if approved, the scheme could well be expanded and extended to other states in the country,” he said in a statement.

The EPF board employee representatives comprise Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (MTUC) president Mohd Khalid Atan, National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Loke Yim Pheng, Sarawak Bank Employees Union (SBEU) president Hadiah Leen and Sabah Commercial Employees Union (SCEU) general secretary Azlin Awang Chee.

Pua (picture) also called on the three professional representatives who sit on the board — Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, Heng Hock Cheng and Halim Din — to call for a review of the easy home loan scheme to uphold public interest.

The EPF board of directors must also exercise their powers in the interest of contributors above any other interested parties, including the government, the Petaling Jaya Utara MP added.

“The directors must insist that any loans in this case, must be extended directly to the federal government and not to the individual low-cost house purchasers,” he said.

“It is for the federal government to bear the responsibility of social welfare by providing a roof over the head of all Malaysians, and not the responsibility of the EPF.”-MalaysianInsider