Dewan Rakyat approves Covid-19 2019 (Amendment) Bill

Malaysia – Dewan Rakyat yesterday enacted the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2021, which aims to provide people and businesses impacted by the pandemic more room and opportunity to recover.

Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Mutalib stated that the ministry (KPKT) was in discussions with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) to extend the homeownership campaign, which was set to expire on December 31.

According to him, the stamp duty exemption on instruments of transfer and financing agreements for the purchase of a first house valued at up to RM500,000 remains in force until December 31, 2025 at the moment.

“The government supports the proposal to prolong the moratorium to coincide with the implementation of Act 829 (Temporary Measures to Reduce the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) 2020),” he added as the bill’s discussion came to a close.

Datuk Awang Hashim, Deputy Minister of Human Resources, and Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law), also took part in the winding-up discussion.

Mas Ermieyati previously said at the bill’s second reading that the revisions concerned ten sections of the act that were presented by the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM), KPKT, Human Resources Ministry, and MOF.

She said that the revisions to JPM aimed to assist more persons who were harmed and failed to satisfy contractual responsibilities, as well as to further broaden the scope of mediation services available via the Covid-19 Mediation Centre to assist parties in contractual disputes.

Mas Ermieyati said that the bulk of the revisions were submitted by members of the industrial sector and enterprises such as housing developers, trade unions, and home purchasers.

The law was introduced to complement and reinforce the government’s existing incentives and commitment to assisting individuals in need, she continued.