By William Isau
SIBU, Jan 15: Sarawak Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing, and Local Government, Michael Tiang, gave his word that he would verify whether the revised quit rent that took effect on Jan 1, 2023, has exceeded 100 per cent increment.
According to Tiang, although it was announced that the increment of the quit rent would not exceed 100 per cent, some landowners had ‘the ‘shock of their lives’ when they were asked to pay quit rent at a 100 per cent increase.
“The Land and Survey Department announced that the revised quit rent would take effect on Jan 1, 2023. They said the new rate would not be a 100 per cent increment,” he said after a dialogue session with the Sibu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) and Sarawak Association of Marine Industry (Samin).
According to the announcement, the new quit rent will be revised from 22 sen to RM1.62 per square metre for shophouses, and 20 sen to RM1.46 per square metre for other commercial properties aside from shophouses and ports, mining, mineral, and trace elements use.
For industrial use, the rate increase is from 9 sen to 43 sen per square metre; office and mixed development use from 5 sen to 23 sen per square metre; recreational from 3 sen to 12 sen per square metre; oil and gas industry usage at 54 sen per square metre; and other land use from 2 sen to 8 sen per square metre.
“I asked these landowners to collect all records and give them to me. I will do some homework to verify this information with the Land and Survey Department,” he said.
He said landowners had no objection to paying the rent based on the published rate.
“If their claim is true, it is a serious issue and not acceptable as it will be harmful to Sarawak’s economy, especially during post-Covid-19,” he said.
He assured that he would bring the matter to the authorities concerned. — DayakDaily
