Umno forms special team to amend Urban Renewal Bill, Johari to lead

Umno has announced a special team to study the proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA) law, and has picked its party vice-president Johari Abdul Ghani to lead the team.

In a statement today, Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the team will thoroughly refine all aspects of the bill before tabling it in a novel Urban Malay Convention (Konvensyen Melayu Bandar).

"This Urban Malay Convention will involve the highest leadership of Umno from states and divisions throughout Malaysia, Malay political parties, NGOs, academics and the civil society members, which will be held at the end of September," Asyraf said.

Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming recently tabled the bill for its first and second reading in the Dewan Rakyat.

However, last week, the Dewan Rakyat decided to postpone the third and final reading to the next Parliament meeting in October, after receiving widespread objection from both government and opposition MPs.

On Aug 28, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan announced that BN MPs had supported the call for the postponement.

"I have held a meeting with BN MPs, all of whom have shared their concerns and wanted the bill to be postponed," he was quoted by Berita Harian as saying, last week.

A representative from Umno Veterans Club, Mustapha Yaakub, also claimed that Mohamad's statement regarding the issue had successfully convinced Putrajaya to push the bill to the next Parliament meeting.

Improvements incoming

Nga said the bill would be reviewed before the next parliamentary meeting, and that his ministry would introduce more improvements to the proposed law.

Last week, pro-Perikatan Nasional groups and federal territories residents’ associations gathered outside Parliament to submit memorandums objecting to the bill.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | What is the Urban Renewal Act?

PN and its supporters have argued that the URA risks upsetting the racial balance in cities to the detriment of Malays.

Subang MP Wong Chen also similarly led PKR lawmakers in a call for the URA's second reading to be postponed, citing concerns over the low consent threshold.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim previously said initial discussions for the law began in 2013, while the drafting process was initiated in 2015.

This bill seeks to give a Federal Executive Committee and state-level executive committees the power to redevelop and revitalise buildings or land parcels, or carry out regeneration projects on abandoned buildings, without having to get 100 percent approval from owners.

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