KUCHING, June 13: Sarawak Land and Survey Department should be fair when deliberating on land renewal applications.
State Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chong Chieng Jen, who made the call, cited the case where the owners of Lot 176 Gading-Lundu Land District, who operate Ocean Beach Resort in Lundu, had submitted an application to renew their land lease with the department early last year, only to receive a reply letter dated January 26 this year that their application has been rejected. No reason was given.
The landowners had bought the land about 15 years ago and the land lease will be expiring on December 21, 2024.
Chong suspected there could be some form of conspiracy behind this rejection because the landowners had been approached by some people offering to buy the land for cheap.
“Shortly before their (landowners) application for the renewal of land lease, there was a group of people approaching them, offering to buy their land at a very cheap price. But they (landowners) refused, and because of that, when they applied for the renewal of land lease, their application was rejected,” Chong told a press conference this morning.
He urged the Land and Survey Department not to abuse their power on behalf of certain quarters.
The Stampin MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, however, declined to name the individuals who had offered to buy the land, saying he would give the department and the state government some time to rectify this issue.
“Our position is that there should be rights for landowners to renew their land leases upon expiry. After all, it is their property.
“We have sent a letter this morning (to Land and Survey Department). If this doesn’t succeed, we will go to DUN (State Legislative Assembly) to raise this matter. And if that still doesn’t succeed, one consoling fact would be that their land lease will only expire in 2024, which by then there would be a state election, whereby the people would have the chance to change the government.
“If there is a change of government, there will be a change of policy. This is titled land and landowners should have the right to renew their land leases,” said Chong. — DayakDaily
