GEORGE TOWN, Aug 27 — Urban renewal is crucial to upgrade old flats that are over 50 years old and improve residents’ quality of life, said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow today.
Speaking on his views regarding the proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA), Chow noted that some flats were already in poor condition due to age.
“The size of the units are also small, between 300 to 400sq ft. The question is who wants to live in such small units in old buildings?” he told reporters when questioned on the matter.
Chow said that if redevelopment did not take place, the condition of these buildings would only deteriorate further.
“What’s the alternative? Wait for these 50-year-old buildings to become 100 years old? Who would want to live in these old buildings?” he said.
He added that states opposing the URA did not face the same problem of ageing high-rise flats with small units that no longer met modern needs.
“If we look at Selangor, the state has many such projects that need to be redeveloped,” he said.
Chow also pointed out that Penang had already embarked on renewal efforts even without the URA, citing the Mahsuri project in Bayan Baru.
“It can be done without the act but with the URA, the threshold of agreement by residents doesn’t need to be 100 per cent, the redevelopment project can proceed with 80 per cent,” he said.
To note, there are various thresholds under the proposed URA — 80 per cent for buildings 30 years and below, 75 per cent for those older than 30 years, and 51 per cent for abandoned buildings.
He explained that properties earmarked for redevelopment were usually stratified, meaning the units belonged to individual owners.
“The power to decide on the redevelopment lies with the property owners, regardless of whether the project was built by PDC or was built by private developers,” he said, referring to Penang Development Corporation.
The URA will be tabled for its second reading in Parliament tomorrow despite objections from various parties.
