No automatic renewal of land lease, clarifies minister

0

KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management and Minister of Public Utilities Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan yesterday clarified that a land lease was not renewed automatically and that the land owner had to submit an application to renew it.

Clarifying a Bernama report which had quoted him as saying that Sarawak offered automatic renewal of land lease, Awang Tengah said Sarawak or any state in peninsular Malaysia, including Selangor and Penang, did not offer automatic renewal.

“I had directed the Land and Survey Department to carry out a comparative study pertaining to renewal of land lease practices in Selangor and Penang in September 2010.

“The fact is that there is no such thing as automatic renewal, not even in Selangor or Penang or any other state in peninsular Malaysia. The land owner has to submit an application for renewal to have the land lease renewed,” he said in a statement.

He said applicants in Sarawak had to apply for renewal using a specific form, similar to those in Penang and Selangor, with the condition that the land was not required for government development purpose or the utilisation of the land did not conflict with the conditions of the title.

“Applications for renewal of land lease can be made at any time before the expiry of the lease. If an application is made after the lease expires, no penalty is imposed,” he added.

However, for Selangor and Penang, a penalty will be imposed if the application is made after the lease expires.

In Selangor, a penalty is based on RM200 per year; plus current land rent multiplied with the period of occupying the land.

In Penang, if an application is made after the lease expires, a penalty will be imposed based on the TOL (temporary occupation licence) fee from the date of expiry until the approval of renewal. — Bernama