Selangor government out to address issues relating to land lease

By Yip Yoke Teng
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/12/2/central/7539734&sec=central

The Selangor government will soon launch an awareness campaign on land lease renewal to address the many issues that have surfaced.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the state could understand the anxiety of residents in Section 1 to 4 of Petaling Jaya Old Town pertaining to renewal of their lease.

“We are formulating the policy and we are looking at ways to lessen the people’s burden especially those who are facing financial difficulty,” he said.

He was responding to StarMetro’s cover story on Monday on the drastic increase in premium that residents in Petaling Jaya Old Town had to pay to renew their leasehold titles expiring in three to 15 years.

Left to rot: Some houses in Section 3, Petaling Jaya Old Town, have been abandoned by their owners who cannot sell or renovate the property due to the many issues involving lease extension.

They had been asked to pay between RM80,000 and RM100,000 to renew the lease but those who did it four years ago paid only RM40,000.

Residents were crying foul because many of them were retirees and hawkers who could not afford the huge sum. They also noticed that there were discrepancies in land premium, even though location, floor area and duration of lease were the same.

Khalid said the state government would give due consideration to house buyers based on their financial background and duration of ownership.

“We are looking at how the calculations should be done and we will make the formula public when we have finalised everything,” he said.