KUALA LUMPUR: Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad (pix) said the government is considering introducing a bill on urban renewal to facilitate the redevelopment of old townships in the city.
He said currently, there is no legislation on urban renewal efforts, which are often crippled by challenges mounted by private property owners.
“It is a challenge when private owners do not give their consent,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during question time today.
He pointed out that in countries like Singapore, the government does not require 100% consent from property owners to implement urban-renewal plans.
“The government needs 90% consent for buildings less than 10 years old, and 80% for those more than 10 years.
“For buildings that are 20 to 30 years old, maybe the consent rate is even lower.
“We will propose this in the new bill for urban renewal,” Khalid replied to Fong Kui Lun (PH-Bukit Bintang), who asked if the ministry plans to introduce a new law for urban renewal to make redevelopment easier, as what has been done in places like Hong Kong and Singapore.
Fong said many old buildings are not redeveloped as ownership is held by different people, which hampers urban renewal.
Khalid added the ministry had, through the Town and Country Planning Department, undertaken a study on guidelines for urban regeneration based on existing legal provisions under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976.
