Jagdeep wants urban regeneration law for Penang, says report

GEORGE TOWN (Feb 25):  Penang wants an urban regeneration law so that aged housing schemes can be torn down and redeveloped, the Malay Mail reported today.

“Considerations should be given to create a law that incorporated urban regeneration to make the process easier and clearer so there are no inconsistency or doubt when implementing a regeneration project,” Penang state exco Jagdeep Singh Deo was reported saying during a media conference after officiating the opening of a workshop on redevelopment of strata schemes here.

He explained that currently, unanimous consent from residents of a development must be obtained for regeneration project to be carried out.

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“So if there are 1,000 units, 999 gave approval but one disagree and this meant the whole project could not go on,” he said.

Jagdeep revealed that the state is planning a number of regeneration projects via the urban renewal committee.

He said the “projects involved stratified projects but there are no provisions in the Strata Titles Act 1985 that allow for regeneration”

It is with this in mind that he is “pushing for Putrajaya to look into this seriously”.

“In Penang, we are a land-scarce island and many strata schemes on the island are old which should be regenerated which could create more units to cater to population growth,” the news portal reported Jagdeep saying.

He said Penang has used more than RM55 million to “maintain old low-cost and medium-cost housing in the state since 2008”.

“The maintenance costs for old buildings is not economically viable compared to rebuilding and the amount spent on old buildings will only continue to grow as the buildings continue to get older,” he said.

It was reported that the Taman Free School flats in Datuk Keramat, Taman Mahsuri flats in Bayan Baru and Rifle Range flats have been earmarked for regeneration.

Taman Mahsuri will be the pilot urban regeneration programme. Jagdeep said “the planning is at an advanced stage” with about 99.9% of the residents having “agreed with the project”.

Last week, Jagdeep was reported by The Star saying that in Singapore, “when every housing scheme reaches 30 to 40 years of age, an assessment report on the condition of the building must be produced”.

“Many schemes there [in Singapore] have been entirely redeveloped as in demolished and rebuilt.”