Amendments to Act 133 will regulate premises on slopes

PUTRAJAYA: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said amendments to the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 (Act 133) will enable local authorities ( PBT) to periodically regulate buildings and premises located in sloping areas.

She also expressed shock that the existing act did not allow PBT to conduct checks on premises and buildings.

“With the amendment to this act, PBT can carry out checks on all properties, including private property.

“This amendment will be tabled at Parliament in October for debates and expected to be enforced next year,” she told a media conference after chairing the 72nd National Council for Local Government (72nd MNKT) meeting here yesterday.

Also present was Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.

With the amendment to Section 70 of Act 133, Dr Wan Azizah said it would be mandatory to prepare a geotechnical report on every development in areas involving slopes of over 25 degrees and an altitude of over 10 metres that had to be verified by certified inspectors registered with the Malaysian Board of Engineers to ensure safe building structures.

Additionally she said the government would not approve any construction projects in areas that exceeded the designated slope.

Meanwhile Dr Wan Azizah said, the MNKT meeting to coordinate

With the amendment to this act, PBT can carry out checks on all properties, including private property.

policies of the local governments and federal government with the state governments, would be held more frequently compared to once a year for more effectiveness and better impact.

The deputy prime minister also said the KPKT would improve the OSC 3.0 Manual to OSC 3 Plus Manual through the provision of clear and detailed procedures based on the legislations and regulations to facilitate and expedite the process of projects approval.

Under the existing checklist, she said there were 69 matters to be completed before a project was approved regardless of whether the project was small, medium or big scale.

With the OSC 3 Plus Manual, she said small scale projects are only required to complete 22 checklists while for medium scale projects ( 28) and big scale ones ( 32).

“This will increase the effectiveness and reduce the time to approve a project. This will help developers and expedite development,” she said.

The MNKT yesterday also approved the guideline for mobile truck management (food, goods and services) in the PBT be set up to plan the needs of such a management holistically. — Bernama

Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Deputy Prime Minister