In a Facebook post, Fadhli hit back at DAP MP Lim Lip Eng who had accused the Islamic party of trying to fool the public with conspiracy theories about the intended legislation.
“Not only is his (Lim’s) statement shallow, it shows a failure to understand the real implications of the act on ordinary citizens,” he said.
Lim had criticised PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man for claiming that the act was aimed at pushing poor Malays and Indians out of urban areas.
He said the proposed act would enhance property values and provide long-term financial benefits to urban residents, particularly the Malays.
However, Fadhli asked why the URA seeks to empower the housing and local government ministry, which deals with developers and land acquisitions, without involving the director-general of lands and mines.
“The URA is supposedly the government’s effort to systematically develop cities and provide comfort for the people.
“However, in reality, this act allows the government and developers to take land and homes away from the people, even without their consent,” he said.
Fadhli said that under the URA, the government will be allowed to acquire land with the approval of 75% of unit owners.
“What happens to the remaining 25% who oppose the acquisition? Their land will be forcibly acquired. It almost seems like the true objective is not to benefit the people but rather to give developers an easier way to acquire land,” he said.
Fadhli said PAS does not oppose development, only forced evictions and unfair land acquisitions. He also claimed that many urban renewal projects had not genuinely benefited the original occupants of the land.
He pointed to New Villages in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, as well as other Malay villages, which were redeveloped into luxury developments which the original residents could not afford to purchase.
“If the people are too poor to buy the new units ‘promised’ to them, who controls the land in the end?” he said.
Lim earlier said that all original homeowners, regardless of their race, would be entitled to new homes, either for free or at a discounted rate.
“They are not being driven away. They are being offered more comfortable homes at the same location,” he said.
Lim also queried the origins of the allegation that the URA was aimed at removing Malays and Indians from urban areas.
“It seems that PAS is bereft of issues and is being forced to peddle racially charged myths to frighten the people,” he said.