KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — The Urban Renewal Act (PSB) will not marginalise, threaten, or deprive certain groups based on race or income, especially the B40 group, said Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
The criteria for the affected areas are based on the physical, infrastructure, utility, social, and property management of the community, which has an impact on the deterioration of the quality of life, economy, and environment which is no longer conducive or poses a danger.
In addition, the implementation of PSB also needs to obtain the consent of property owners through consultation and not forced expropriation, as well as ensuring that developers do not conduct negotiations with property owners without government intervention.
"The method of consultation carried out is comprehensive between the Federal or state authorities and each legal and registered property owner and it is steered by the Executive Committee, which is chaired by a government representative,” he said.
Nga was speaking at the winding-up debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address for the Housing and Local Government Ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today, after being debated by 27 MPs.
He added that the main basis for the enactment of the PSB Act was based on four pillars, namely Urban Redevelopment, Urban Regeneration, Urban Revitalisation, and Urban Conservation, taking into account 10 principles to ensure transparency in government administration and guarantee the preservation of rights enjoyed by registered property owners.
"Among the main principles of PSB is to obtain the consent of the owners, the retention of the original population and safeguard the interests of the landowners and the cost of appropriate maintenance charges," Nga said.
Simultaneously, the Federal or state governments will provide various incentives to drive the success of the PSB project and property owners will continue to get the same area or ownership of new properties that are higher in value with the new environment and infrastructure.
"The method of consultation with property owners will ensure that property owners get back all appropriate rights and interests, especially the repossession of new properties in accordance with the value of existing properties, and future valuations will be accommodated by developers based on the projected profits that will be controlled and agreed by the government," he said.
In addition, the PSB project will be initiated by the authorities if it reaches the consent threshold of between 75 and 80 per cent of the property owners.
"Failure to reach the threshold value, the authorities will not proceed with the PSB project taking into account the views and wishes of the residents," Nga said.
Meanwhile, the minister also urged the local authorities to ensure that Ramadan bazaar traders who have obtained site approval to operate the sales site themselves, do not lease or resell the licence to third parties.
"If there are any traders who violate the approval by transferring their leases or reselling their licences, the local authorities must revoke the licences immediately and cannot compromise on this issue," he said.
— Bernama
