The Cabinet has decided to retract the Urban Renewal Bill, government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said, adding that the proposed law would be retabled once improvements are made.
Fahmi said the Cabinet decided to retract the bill after taking into account the concerns raised by MPs, ministers, and “friends from Umno”.
“The Cabinet agreed for the bill to be retracted so that amendments can be made,” he said at a press conference today.
The bill aims to redevelop old, dilapidated housing areas to ensure the wellbeing of residents and sustainable urban development.
It outlines three types of projects – redevelopment involving tearing down and rebuilding housing projects; regeneration involving repairs or upgrades to dilapidated or abandoned buildings; and revitalisation pertaining to upgrading or improving an area without demolition.
Resistance to the bill from both the opposition and some in the government bloc, including Barisan Nasional and seven PKR MPs, prevented the bill from being passed during the last Dewan Rakyat meeting in August.
In November, housing and local government minister Nga Kor Ming said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will decide when the second reading of the bill will take place in the Dewan Rakyat.
MORE TO COME
