Land lease renewal approval hinges on compliance with devt plans, Awang Tengah tells Padungan rep

Awang Tengah delivering his ministerial winding-up speech during the DUN sitting on Nov 29, 2023. Photo credit: Ukas

By Ashley Sim

KUCHING, Nov 29: The approval of Renewal of Land Lease (RLL) applications depends on whether the land is part of the government’s development plans and if the land use complies with specified conditions, says Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.

The Deputy Premier of Sarawak has clarified to Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen that the applications that were not approved were reviewed by the Land and Survey Department, which found them to be in violation of the prescribed land use conditions.

“For example, the application for Lot 1350 Block 8 Senggi-Poak Land District was rejected since the Land and Survey Department’s investigation into the lot found that there was still one residential house, one store, and one car workshop that had been established and is still operating.

“Therefore, the Land and Survey Department has advised the applicant to remedy this and submit a new RLL application.

“If they want to continue activities that clearly conflict with the stipulated land conditions such as running a car workshop, it is recommended that they make an application for changing land conditions and land subdivision (AVTC) for consideration,” he said when presenting the ministerial winding-up speech during the Second Meeting for the Second Term of the 19th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN), which was held at the DUN complex here today.

Awang Tengah, who is also the Second Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development, informed Chong that in Kuching Division, a total of 64 agricultural land lots that have been established with more than one residential house have already been approved for RLL applications in the period from 2020 to Oct 31, 2023 because all of them are still used for residential houses and activities that meet the land approval requirements.

“For the information of this honorable House, since the new RLL policy was introduced in 2007, so far a total of 72,140 lots for the renewal of land title deeds have been approved throughout Sarawak,” he added.

Awang Tengah continued: “For the information of the Honorable Member for Padungan as well, the application for the renewal of the agricultural land title deed (Renewal of Land Lease – RLL) which is subject to a premium of RM5,000 per acre for Urban Land is still low and very affordable when compared to the market value of the land in the area that was mentioned by the Honorable Member for Padungan, which is the Sejijak area, Jalan Kim Choo Sing and Jalan Sin San Tu.

“For example, Lot 170 Block 10 Matang Land District in the Urban Land category whose land title deed has been renewed on July 31, 2023, the premium charged is at the rate of RM5,000 per acre (one off) only for a period of 60 years compared to the market value currently estimated to exceed RM500,000 per acre.

“In addition, the government has also abolished all land taxes for residential and agricultural use since 2016.” — DayakDaily