URA to ensure old areas are revived; residents enjoy more comfortable homes

New Straits Times

a day ago

KUALA LUMPUR: The Urban Renewal Bill slated to be tabled in Dewan Rakyat tomorrow is expected to be a key step in ensuring that old and dilapidated residential areas are not left to deteriorate, but instead revived to benefit the people with more comfortable and conducive housing.
Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) director-general Datuk Alias Rameli said efforts to draft this specific legislation began as far back as 2012 with the introduction of various guidelines, before being finalised to provide legal authority through the Urban Renewal Act (URA).
"It is not the government's approach to allow areas that are more than 30 years old to remain in such a condition. We have no choice, we took the initiative to plan and introduce the Urban Renewal Bill.
"After going through quite a long process, since 2012 we have prepared several guidelines, updated them again in 2023, and felt it was still not sufficient. There must be a source of legal authority, and this will be through the Urban Renewal Act that we will bring to Parliament," he told reporters during his visit to Media Prima Bhd's Balai Berita today.
Also present were Media Prima News and Current Affairs Television Network group editor Azhari Muhidin.
Alias said the main goal of the act is to ensure that residents are not marginalised, but are instead able to remain in their homes with improved housing quality and better living environments.
"If there are old, unsafe or abandoned houses and buildings, we will start there. Residents will receive the same homes with government support. There is government intervention, and the government will also help regulate.
"From the poor conditions we might have lived in before, with small-sized homes, we can move to bigger homes. That is the intention, so that we can create more conducive housing for us to live in with our children for future generations," he said.
He also rejected claims that the act would only benefit developers as the government would act as mediator and facilitator to ensure redevelopment projects are carried out transparently and that existing residents are not neglected.
"I outright reject the polemic perception about this. Our aim is to help the parcel owners, the landowners. That is our sincere intention, to assist them," he said.
Alias added that with the URA, Malaysia would be able to strengthen its urban governance to be on par with other countries such as Singapore, Jakarta, Dubai, and Middle Eastern nations that have long implemented redevelopment laws.
"Malaysia cannot afford to lag behind without a systematic governance framework that follows the rule of law. I believe this is not an option for any government, including the unity government," he said.
Alias said, there are 534 potential sites across Peninsular Malaysia, including 109 in Kuala Lumpur, that could be redeveloped under this act to ensure the well-being of urban communities with better infrastructure, larger homes and safer environments.
It was reported that the Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming will table the Urban Renewal Bill (PSB) in the Dewan Rakyat for the first reading tomorrow.
He said the second and third readings are scheduled for Aug 27 to 28 thus marking a new direction in ensuring that urban development in Malaysia remains sustainable, advanced, prosperous and inclusive.