ALOR SETAR: Kedah became the first state to launch a Land and Mines portal and an e-land acquisition system.Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) would enhance the efficiency of the land and mines department and offer better and faster service to the people.
“For example, to amend terms that normally takes about a year, can be done in six months and change of ownership can be done within a day. The system will enable people to check the status of their land, put in applications, check rates and pay land tax,” he told reporters after launching the portal yesterday.
According to Azizan, the system would further enhance the enforcement of laws involving land matters and help improve collection of outstanding tax since RM104 million in tax was outstanding as only RM89 million was collected last year.
He added that the government was also aware that agricultural land in many areas have been used for industrial purposes without approval.
Meanwhile, Azizan said the US$10 billion (RM36 billion) oil refinery project at the Sungai Limau Hidro Karbon Hub (Sulihh) would continue as planned after receiving the Environmental Impact Assessment report and approval.
He added that though the ground breaking ceremony for the project which will be the biggest oil refinery in the country has been delayed a number of times, the project would go on as planned since the delays were caused by minor technical delays.
“It will start once the problems are settled in two of three months,” he said.
Once the refinery was completed, the plant would produce naphtha, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas for export while the initial crude oil would be bought from Middle East countries.
The project is a consortium made up of Merapoh Resources Sdn Bhd, Hong Kong Beijing Star Ltd, Winson Investment Ltd and SK Engineering and Construction Ltd from South Korea. — Bernama