Alan Jones has called on the NSW Premier to help compensate residents who have been shut out of their Opal Tower apartments for nearly six months.

Nearly half of all residents are still unable to return to their homes after major building defects were discovered last year.

Many owners are still paying the mortgage on an apartment they can neither live in nor sell.

Alan Jones says it’s ludicrous there’s no protection for those who bought the now unliveable units.

“The developer or the builder should be held accountable. These people should get all their money back and be allowed to get on with their lives.

“I’m saying to you, Gladys, if that’s not the law then make it the law.

“If the rules for someone buying an apartment aren’t the same rules as apply to someone who’s buying a toaster, then there’s something wrong with the rules.”

Chairman of the Opal Tower Body Corporate Shady Eskander tells Alan there’s no consumer protection for property owners.

“I mean strawberries have needles in them, all the strawberries get thrown out, everything gets returned, but we’re being forced to swallow the needle.

“What we need our ministers to do is to stand up and realise that the lesson from Opal is that consumer protection for the citizens of this country is needed.”

Du Yang, a real estate agent who both owns and manages a number of Opal Tower properties, says his family is struggling under the pressure.

“We still have to pay our mortgage, but we have no rent income. So we are facing the most difficult financial time. We don’t get any help.

“You just can’t let people who did the mistakes to walk away like this so easily. Because we’re just ordinary Australian people who want to realise our own dream by our own hands.”

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