Urban Renewal Act: 'Govt has no right to change original ownership status'
PARLIAMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed that the proposed Urban Renewal Act will not give the government powers to change the original ownership status of any urban properties.
During Prime Minister's Question Time today, Anwar said there will be no provision under the proposed Act that could lead to owners, regardless of ethnicity, losing ownership of their property.
"I gave an example of...
Summary
PM assures that the Urban Renewal Act will not empower govt to change original ownership of urban properties as it will not contain such a provision.
Anwar Ibrahim asks if it was reasonable to allow a dilapidated building to stand when only one owner objected, in defending the proposal to lower the agreement threshold for urban renewal projects.
PARLIAMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stressed that the proposed Urban Renewal Act will not give the government powers to change the original ownership status of urban properties.
During Prime Minister's Question Time today, Anwar said there will be no provision under the proposed Act that could lead to owners, regardless of ethnicity, losing ownership of their property.
"I gave an example of the Seri Perlis flat in Bandar Tun Razak. If now the ownership is 70 percent Malays, that will remain.
"Under the proposed Act, we (the government) do not have any right to move owners.
"The issue of (impact on) original owners does not arise in any way," said Anwar, in response to Ahmad Amzad Hashim (PN-Kuala Terengganu).
Earlier, Tan Kar Hing (Harapan-Gopeng) asked Anwar to state the government's commitment to ensure that the proposed Act will protect the rights of original land or property owners, regardless of ethnicity.
Responding to criticisms surrounding a proposal to lower the agreement threshold for urban renewal projects from 100 percent, Anwar again cited an example of the Seri Perlis one-bedroom flat where he claimed only one person had voiced their objection.
"Until today, (an) outdated, damp and dilapidated (structure) in the middle of a large city.
"Can we sacrifice a project with 99 percent approval just because of one person?" he asked.
In the works since 2012
As such, Anwar said the Act proposed a lower agreement threshold of 80 percent for buildings less than 30 years, 75 percent for buildings over 30 years, and 51 percent simple majority for abandoned homes.
Anwar also stressed that the proposed law was neither new nor rushed, pointing out that it has been in development since 2012, with 74 stakeholder engagement sessions held.
He further noted that previous ministers who had participated in developing the law include Annuar Musa and Zuraida Kamaruddin during their stints handling the Federal Territories portfolio.
