Fahmi said the Cabinet decided to retract the bill after taking into account the concerns raised by MPs, ministers, and “friends from Umno”.

“The Cabinet agreed for the bill to be retracted so that amendments can be made,” he said at a press conference today.

The bill aims to redevelop old, dilapidated housing areas to ensure the wellbeing of residents and sustainable urban development.

It outlines three types of projects – redevelopment involving tearing down and rebuilding housing projects; regeneration involving repairs or upgrades to dilapidated or abandoned buildings; and revitalisation pertaining to upgrading or improving an area without demolition.

Resistance to the bill from both the opposition and some in the government bloc, including Barisan Nasional and seven PKR MPs, prevented the bill from being passed during the last Dewan Rakyat meeting in August.

In November, housing and local government minister Nga Kor Ming said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will decide when the second reading of the bill will take place in the Dewan Rakyat.

Fahmi, who is also the communications minister, said Nga had received several recommendations from Umno, and almost all of them would be incorporated into the revised bill.

Asked when the bill will be retabled, he said the Cabinet will leave it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers to draft the new version.

“Once the process begins, the Cabinet will be briefed. The first draft of the new bill must be brought to the Cabinet for discussion. Therefore, we expect the process to take some time,” he said.

On Jan 20, Nga said his ministry was prepared to retable the bill for its second reading if it was approved by the Cabinet.