DAP calls for immediate nation-wide freeze of rents until extension of rent control ordinance as a positive step to help low-income groups fight inflation
The DAP welcomes the statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Hussein On, that the government is considering the amendment to the Rent Control Ordinance to extend its coverage and curb unreasonable increases in rents.
I suggested in Parliament last year that rent control laws should be extended to cover new areas, including houses built after 1948, to protect the incomes of the lower income groups. I had in the Dewan Rakyat specifically mentioned the Petaling Jaya as a new area which should name under rent control, to prevent unreasonable rent increases from being imposed, adding to the hardship to the poor who are already in financial straits from the effects of galloping inflation.
The government should not take too long a time to consider extending the rent control ordinance.
The DAP suggest that the government should immediately order a freeze on rents until such time as the government has finalized its thoughts about the amendment to the 1966 Rent Control Ordinance. What is needed is swift governmental action to curb unreasonable rent increases.
Finally, the government should launch crash low-cost housing programmes throughout the country to build cheap homes for the homeless if Malaysians of all income groups are to get a decent shelter for themselves and their families. The present rate of housing development by the government is ridiculously inadequate, and its present low-cost housing programme should at least be trebled, if it is to make any significant contribution towards the solution of the homeless poor.