MIRI: The government has to acquire land for development and it will compensate land owners accordingly when it does so.
Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, in stressing this yesterday, advised especially Native Customary Rights (NCR) land owners not to be easily instigated by irresponsible people.
“The claims by opposition parties that the government grabs people’s land are baseless and malicious,” he said at the hand over of land compensation cheques and land titles to some 200 recipients at Land and Survey Department office here.
Awang Tengah said the state government has detailed plans when it comes to developing land and all these development are for the benefit of the people.
On land compensation amount, he said each land acquisition is compensated based on market value and size and that is why recipients can receive different amounts of compensation money.
When government develops a place, the value of the nearby areas will increase due to availability of better road access and other infrastructure, he said.
The minister said the Land and Survey Department carries out NCR perimeter survey for free and no premium or land tax will be imposed while perpetuity ownership is granted to the land owners.
A total of RM3.5 million in compensation was paid out involving a total of 143.03 hectares of land.
The compensated land areas were under the Villages Expansion Scheme project involving Kampung Baru Beluru in Bakong, Jalan Marudi/Long Lama as well as Sungai Dehin including bridge project across Sungai Tutoh, Miri. Other compensated lands were under Niah power substation project.
Under the state Land Code, a total of 70 recipients from Kampung Bulau, Sibuti received their land titles which involved a total of 5.99 hectare of land.
Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Entrepreneur Development), Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais, Assistant Minister of Early Childhood Rosey Yunus, Assistant Minister of Communications Datuk Lee Kim Shin, Land and Survey Department director Sazali Kifli and the department’s Miri enforcement chief Unus Tambi were also present at ceremony.