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KUCHING, July 12: The Federal government has agreed to hand back 54 out of 218 lots of land that were previously acquired from the Sarawak government.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said that the decision on the disposal of Federal Commissioner’s land in Sarawak was made in April this year, in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“Sarawak maintains the principles of the handover as agreed upon during the last Special Council Meeting of MA63, without imposing unnecessary bureaucracy,” he said in his text-of-speech when receiving a courtesy call from Federal Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on Monday (July 10).
Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development, explained that the returned land consisted of areas that had remained unoccupied or undeveloped for more than five years.
“Others involved unoccupied land but the use of the land differs from the original approval,” he said.
He further mentioned that the land acquired or owned by the Federal government at no cost must be returned without any charges, while the land acquired at a cost borne by the Federal government would be handed back at the same cost.
Awang Tengah pointed out that the process for the return of land was based on the Sarawak Land Code Cap. 81.
“In addition, the government reserved land occupied and developed by the Federal government based on approved uses will be issued with a title deed to the FLC (Federal Lands Commissioner) through existing methods,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Len Talif Salleh was present. — DayakDaily
