AMPANG, Aug 29 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today urged critics of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) Bill not to exploit racial sentiments, insisting the proposed law is aimed at improving the lives of the poor.
He said the Bill seeks to provide Malaysians with safer, more liveable homes, particularly those trapped in dilapidated and overcrowded flats.
“The narrative being pushed out there is that the prime minister and the government have bowed to Chinese demands, taking away Malay rights and relocating them. But it was the previous government that carried out those relocations,” he said.
“This government will never betray the Bumiputera, the Chinese, or the Indians, we will defend their rights,” he added during the launch of the East Klang Valley Expressway.
Anwar said that critics of the Bill often ignored conditions faced by the urban poor.
“Some of those making these comments have never seen the reality on the ground, families living in one-room flats with six children, or even two families sharing a single unit. They only speak in theory,” he said.
The URA Bill, currently before Parliament, sets out a framework for redeveloping ageing and unsafe buildings, with provisions for resident consent and oversight by authorities.
However, some critics of the Bill have claimed it would displace Malay communities in favour of others.
Others — including a coalition of residents’ groups and the National House Buyers Association — have argued the Bill gives excessive power to developers by allowing land acquisition once a set consent threshold is reached, which they say risks undermining homeowners’ constitutional rights.
