KUCHING, Aug 25: With a mere difference of one year, a landowner paid 25 times more for his land lease renewal premium than the amount that his neighbour had paid for a year ago.
The claim was made by Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen who said the term of lease of Mr Tan’s land situated at Jalan Batu Kawah, Sin San Tu, containing approximately 2.21 acres will expire in December, 2026.
“As such, he applied for an extension of lease of his land. He was shocked to learn that he has to pay RM11,000 for the extension of the lease of his land,” said Chong in a statement.
Chong, who is also Stampin MP, said only a year ago, the owner of his neighbouring land had their land lease renewed. That land owner only paid RM500 for the renewal of his land of the size of about 2 acres.
“Land lease renewal in Batu Kawah area has gone up from RM200 per acre to RM5,000 per acre! A shocking 25 times.
“Such a 25-times increase is due to the government reclassifying all the land in Batu Kawah area from ‘country land’ to ‘town land’. This reclassification of land exercise was done in June, 2022,” said Chong.
He said as a result of such the reclassification, the government has, by a stroke of pen, increased the land lease renewal premium for thousands of landowners in Batu Kawah and in many areas in Sarawak by 25 times, from RM200 per acre to RM5,000 per acre.
“Thousands of landowners in Batu Kawah and many more in other areas in Sarawak have suffered as a result of such a unreasonable policy,” Chong claimed. — DayakDaily
