GEORGE TOWN, Nov 15 — Penang’s redevelopment plans are up in the air as it has no power to compel the owners of old flats to allow their demolition and reconstruction, state exo Jagdeep Singh Deo said today.

The Local Government, Housing Development and Town and Country Planning Committee chairman said the state was still waiting for the federal government to amend the relevant laws to empower the state to act.

“If we look at Rifle Range as an example, out of the 3,000 units, if 100 unit owners don’t want it to be torn down and rebuilt, we won’t be able to do it,” he said, referring to the flats which are 50 years old.

He told reporters on the sidelines of the State Legislative Assembly sitting that the state government will need the consent of all unit owners to demolish a stratified building.

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“We have legalities, so we will need to amend the Strata Titles Act to allow such a redevelopment,” he said.

He added that the state legal officers have said that this issue was being looked at by the federal government as it involved federal law.

“While we study the concepts of redevelopment, we still have to wait for the federal government to get back to us,” he said.

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Datuk Keramat assemblyman Jagdeep Singh Deo speaks to reporters in George Town November 15, 2018. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin
Datuk Keramat assemblyman Jagdeep Singh Deo speaks to reporters in George Town November 15, 2018. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

He said he hoped for the law to be amended to allow the government to acquire the units of those who refuse to allow their old buildings to be redeveloped.

“We want to make it compulsory for the unit owners to let us tear it down and redevelop the building,” he said.

Earlier, Jagdeep told the assembly that the state government is looking into implementing an urban redevelopment concept similar to Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority plans.

He said this concept can bring urban renewal to old buildings like the Rifle Range flats.

He said this in his winding up speech while responding to a proposal by Ong Khan Lee (PH - Kebun Bunga) that the Rifle Range flats be torn down and rebuilt.

“There are legal issues if we want to do this,” he said.