KUALA LUMPUR: Housing Minister Nga Kor Ming is under fire from civil society groups and residents’ associations, who say the proposed Urban Renewal Bill 2025 “opens the door to abuse” and grants him sweeping, unchecked powers over redevelopment projects.
Calling the Bill “defective, unlawful and devoid of legitimacy,” critics accuse Nga of bulldozing public concerns, ignoring meaningful consultation, and enabling forced redevelopment in favour of private developers.
Chang Kim Loong, secretary-general of the National House Buyers Association (HBA), said at a press conference on Monday that the 30-year redevelopment benchmark made little sense.
“I don’t understand why the government has asked for a threshold of a benchmark of 30 years. Why 30 years? The minister even accepted the fact that the building lifespan is 70 years. JKR has come up — the life of a building probably managed to be 100 years, but it is on average 70 to 80 years. Now, why 30 years?” he said.
“My mum is 90 years old. It means if this law is passed, she got to go through three cycles of redevelopment — 30 years plus 30, 30 years — unnecessarily.”
Chang slammed the minister’s justification that elderly residents face difficulty climbing stairs.
“One of the excuses the minister gave was that we want to redevelop because the old cannot walk on the stairs. Hey, install lift. What’s so difficult for installing lift?”
He accused the government of prioritising profit over people:
“Why would you demolish the whole thing? You tear down a five-storey building and put up a 54-storey one — who makes the money from that? The government is facilitating a law for private developers. That’s how I see it.”
Chang also criticised Nga for touting redevelopment projects like One Razak Mansion and Kampung Kerinchi as success stories.
“Do you not know he should not take credit for something not done by him? These were done by the old administration. Both had 100 per cent consent. Why 75 per cent? Why 80 per cent? So don’t go around posting success cases that were not yours.”
“There are three candidates of owners – investors, those who inherited, and the vulnerable group with sentimental reasons to stay. That’s the group we need to protect. They don’t have a voice to speak out. And you come with bulldoze to this law here.”
He warned the legislation centralises too much authority in one office.
“What does it say most if you look through the law carefully? The all-powerful is the minister. Even the state authority, the economic planning committee — all must refer to him. He has got the list of all.
“According to him, he will give a list of all the redevelopments and the developers’ project names on that.”
“Why should we give power to one person? He must understand that he’s not forever in power. One enough. Don’t forget that nobody is forever in power. The next generation of politicians who take over may abuse it, so we must never have this law open at all. It’s going to open our third gate. That’s very important.”
In a statement following the press conference Tuesday, civil society groups and residents’ associations jointly condemned the Urban Renewal Bill 2025, calling it “defective, unlawful and devoid of legitimacy.”
“The new Bill gives too much unchecked power to the minister and opens the door to abuse,” the statement said.
“Our house is our castle – it must never be forcibly taken under the guise of redevelopment.”
They are demanding the Bill’s immediate withdrawal and a full moratorium on all related redevelopment projects.
The proposed Act was tabled in Parliament last week. The bill is scheduled for its second and third readings in Parliament on Wednesday.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
