RM1.5 MILLION TO PROVIDE REVIEW OF MELAKA STRUCTURE PLAN 2040 - PLANMALAYSIA

MELAKA, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) through the Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) has allocated RM1.5 million for the preparation of a review of the Melaka State Structure Plan 2040 under Rolling Plan 1 (RP1), 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) for 2026.

Town and Country Planning director-general Datuk Dr Alias ​​Rameli said the allocation is not just a fund injection but is PLANMalaysia's commitment to ensure Melaka continued to progress as a developed, livable and sustainable state through a structural plan that is capable of steering the state's development in driving the regional economy with high-impact and is relevant in line with future challenges.

"We see that there are several policy frameworks at Melaka state level that need to be improved within 10 to 15 years because the challenges related to urbanisation are changing.

"Melaka is facing problems such as weather changes such as rain and flooding that occur in other cities, in addition to economic development through several development proposals such as the Straits of Melaka Waterfront Economic Zone (SM-WEZ)," he told reporters here last night.

He said this after the Melaka State Level World Urban Planning Day (HPBS) 2025 Celebration officiated by Melaka State Secretary Datuk Azhar Arshad.

Alias ​​said the review of the structural plan also needed to find solutions to several major problems in the state, including road and traffic light issues, with possible solutions being through the construction of new highways, in addition to a 'real base' transport system starting at the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC) in Ayer Keroh such as 'high speed rail'.

He said the implementation would have a major impact on the growth of development along the coast of the Straits of Melaka and at the same time add positive economic impacts to tourism development, thus attracting more tourists, boosting the local economy and providing many benefits to the people.

In another development, he said Melaka had recorded excellent achievements at the national level when it managed to achieve the highest average score of MURNInets 2.0 with an achievement of 94.31 per cent this year.

He said the achievement made Melaka the state with the most superior urban sustainability benchmark in Malaysia and the achievement not only reflected the effectiveness of the state's spatial planning but also proved the strength of the collaborative ecosystem between local authorities (PBT), technical agencies, urban planning and communities.

"It is proof of the hard work of all parties in ensuring that orderly, responsive and sustainable development truly bears fruit and is recognised at the national level.

"The results and evidence of commitment can be seen when two cities in Melaka, namely Bandaraya Melaka and Bandar Jasin, were crowned and recognised as the Happiest Cities at the National World Happiness Day Celebration in March," he said.

-- BERNAMA