TAWAU: State Land and Survey Department (LSD) director Datuk Osman Jamal yesterday said it could not be possible for a land to be issued with two land titles.
He said all land issues could be resolved according to the stated laws and regulations.
He was commenting on a statement by a man who claimed that his 19.25 acres of Commercial Lease (CL) land he bought in 1999 had been issued under Native Title (NT) this year.
Osman said it was impossible to have two land titles on a land.
The respective lands located at Apas-Balung here had been categorized under smallholder scheme, he added.
Osman said a smallholder by the name of Awit Bin Puding had applied for CL grant for his land and the land title draft had been issued by the LSD in 1999.
However, Awit appealed to the LSD to change the status of his CL grant into NT grant as he was unable to pay for its premium at RM9,615.
Therefore, his application had been approved by LSD for a new NT grant with the number NT103051627 issued to the applicant while the CL grant had been disposed of, he explained.
However, Osman said the LSD officers had reviewed the matter due to certain consequences and Awit had registered for Collector’s Caveat on the CL grant with LSD on October 11, 2010 in order to avoid any business transaction to be carried out on the respective grants.
“It means the land has two titles under the name of the same person and there has not been any loss for the land owner and the government. The LSD officers need to hold a land inquiry to withdraw or cancel the CL grant and change it into NT grant which was applied for by Awit.
“A notice has been issued to the land owner on August 9, this year to invite him to attend the land inquiry session on September 13, this year,” Osman pointed out.
According to him, he hoped the land owner could attend the land inquiry on that day to provide relevant explanation whether he agrees or disagrees with such application.
If he disagrees with the decision, he may appeal again within one month under Section 41 and he may bring his lawyer for the next hearing session.
Yong Den Fah said on Thursday that he was surprised to learn that 19.25 acres of CL land he bought in 1999 had been issued under NT this year.
He found out about the matter from the first owner from whom he had bought the land from. The first owner told him that a senior officer from a department here had offered to buy the land from him early this year.
Yong said when he bought the land, it was already planted with oil palms under a smallholder scheme and the land was replanted with oil palms in 2006.
He had made a police report on May 16 about the trespass and named the officer and made four complaints to the Land and Survey Department director but yet to receive any response.