PUTRAJAYA: The significance of the proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA) for the nation’s well-being remains undiminished, despite its passage in Parliament being interrupted last year, says Nga Kor Ming (pic).
The Housing and Local Government Minister said his ministry is “ever ready” to table the Bill again, subject to the Cabinet’s approval for the retabling of the proposed law.
“Urban development is an agenda for national development. This is important to safeguard and support the B40 group and the urban poor.
“My intentions are noble, aimed at assisting urban residents affected by dilapidated and unsafe buildings,” he told reporters after delivering his ministerial mandate address for 2026 yesterday.
Nga said his ministry will continue pushing for Cabinet consensus to ensure harmonisation and uniformity in the proposed law.
“If the Cabinet agrees, my message is that we are ever ready. We are ever ready to continue with the second reading of the URA because we believe this is crucial to the future of urban development,” said Nga.
On Aug 21 last year, the Urban Renewal Bill was tabled for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat and was scheduled for second reading on Aug 28.
However, no debate or voting was held and the passage of the Bill was deferred following calls for further scrutiny from various quarters, including both opposition and government MPs.
Concerns raised included the 80% resident consent threshold and the 30-year age threshold for buildings eligible for urban revitalisation.
Earlier, during his address, Nga said his ministry aims to score a perfect “10” this year, upping its game from last year’s “outstanding performance”.
He said the goal remained unchanged, despite the ministry having received national and international accolades last year, including the completion of abandoned housing projects and his appointment as president of UN-Habitat.
“We have laid the foundation for a value-based public service grounded in noble values, attitudes and work culture to ensure transparency and excellence in delivering services to the people,” he added.
He said that the ministry’s “ABCDT Pledge” would serve as a guiding principle at all levels to strengthen transparency, service excellence, trustworthiness, cleanliness, efficiency, discipline and teamwork.
He pointed out the ministry’s achievements last year are proof of its strong commitment to ensure every citizen has access to safe and comfortable housing.
He also noted that the ministry had achieved outstanding results in 2025, with overall performance exceeding targets and expectations.
Among the ministry’s achievements, he highlighted the provision of a total of 511,544 affordable housing units last year, surpassing the target set under the 12th Malaysia Plan.
He added that 1,333 abandoned private housing projects were fully revived, involving 159,638 units with a gross development value of RM126.47bil.
“Twenty-three drainage infrastructure upgrading projects and 29 public market projects were implemented to enhance community well-being, alongside the completion of 868 development projects in Chinese new villages to improve the liveability of village environments,” said Nga.
He also noted that the Fire and Rescue Department successfully maintained a rapid response time of under 10 minutes in major urban areas, despite handling more than 36,000 fire cases annually.
