Urban Renewal Bill Crucial To Replace Rundown Housing With Dignified Homes - PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Bernama) --  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has stressed the urgent need to enact the Urban Renewal Bill 2025 to facilitate the redevelopment of rundown housing and ensure more dignified living conditions for Malaysians.

“It must be done. We cannot allow cities to boast structures like the Twin Towers while families continue living in rundown housing. That’s unacceptable,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Anwar said that the Bill provides the legal framework for the government to redevelop ageing urban housing areas, with the guarantee that residents will be given significantly improved homes.

“The Bill will give the government the space to build more comfortable homes that suit the times. In many cases, the majority of residents (of the rundown housing) are Malays. The Bill proposes that those who own one-bedroom units will receive new homes with a minimum of three bedrooms.”

The Prime Minister said this in reply to Datuk Ahmad Amzad Mohamed (PN-Kuala Terengganu), who raised concerns that the Bill might allow homes to be forcibly demolished and redeveloped after just 30 years.

Anwar also addressed the concern by citing firsthand observations of poor living conditions in areas like the Seri Perlis flat in the capital.

“At Seri Perlis, I saw the reality that a one-bedroom unit is occupied by not just one but sometimes two families. It’s our responsibility to find a way to rebuild these homes into three-bedroom units that are more suitable for family life,” he said.

Anwar emphasised that the issue of public housing is personally significant to him and must not be sidelined, particularly when the country is seeing encouraging economic development.

The Prime Minister also hit out at certain quarters for attempting to racialise the Bill, accusing them of spreading false narratives that the Bill is designed to alter the Malay-majority demographics in urban areas.

“I want to ask, since we took over the government, even with DAP in the coalition, which Malay-majority area have we handed over (to non-Malays)? Don’t accuse us of sidelining or oppressing Malays.

“I am no puppet. I have a mandate, and I will defend the interests of the Malays and Bumiputera, who form the majority,” he asserted.

Anwar said that instead of making baseless claims, critics, including the opposition, should table constructive recommendations to strengthen the proposed legislation.

“I'm not saying that the proposed legislation is a perfect one. We can always make adjustments.

“The issue of threshold values, for example, can be further discussed during the debate session,” he said in reply to Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin (PN-Larut), who called for the postponement of the second reading of the Bill.

The second reading of the Bill is listed as the seventh item on the Dewan Rakyat’s Orders of the Day and Motions today.

-- BERNAMA