Iron out the flaws, make a good law

UMNO secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has reportedly urged the government to defer the Urban Renewal Bill 2025 and not table it during the current Dewan Rakyat sitting (“Major overhaul needed before tabling Urban Renewal Bill, says Umno sec-gen”, The Star, Oct 3; online at bit.ly/star_urbanbill).

On Aug 21, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming tabled the Bill in Parlia-ment for its first reading. Debate on the Bill, which was originally planned for Aug 28, was postponed to the current sitting.

Should the Bill be deferred or referred to a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to consider it?

I say it should be referred to the PSC rather than be deferred.

I have written before about how a PSC would be able to scrutinise the details of a Bill referred to it and discuss it in a less formal manner than in Parliament but in a definite order, where each and every clause (in the order in which the clauses appear in a Bill), and schedules and preamble (if any) would be reviewed.

In my humble opinion, the PSC would be best to consider, among others, concerns highlighted in a memorandum of proposals on the Bill that have been raised in a meeting between the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation and Communications and the Housing and Local Government Ministry, as highlighted by MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (The Star, Oct 3; online at bit.ly/star_urbanconcerns).

According to Dr Wee, the memorandum of proposals is jointly endorsed by 16 professional bodies, resident associations, and non-governmental and civil society organisations.

“Hopefully, the government, particularly the ministry, will take this matter seriously for the benefit of the people as a whole,” he said in a Facebook post on Oct 3.

I say Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming should refer or commit the Bill to a PSC before its second reading under Dewan Rakyat Standing Order No.54(1), which reads as follows: “A Bill may be committed to a Select Committee before its second reading.” Scrutiny of a Bill would iron out the flaws and make for good law.

HAFIZ HASSAN

Bukit Baru

Melaka