KUCHING: Sarawak DAP is appealing to the state government to reverse its decision to increase quit rent for shophouses, which will take effect on Jan 1, next year
Its state chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the hike is expected to affect most of the business sector as it mostly involves shophouses, commercial and industrial lots and the medium- to large-scale agricultural land.
He said the business sector has already taken a very bad hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and was merely starting to recover. Thus, the new quit rent will increase the overall cost of doing business.
“Any additional financial burden on the business sector will ultimately be passed on to consumers,” he said in a statement today (Dec 29).
“In fact, quit rent on land is merely a legacy of the British government’s land system where all landowners are deemed to be leasing their land from the government. It can be done away with and abolished,” he said.
Chong, who is also the Stampin Member of Parliament (MP) and Padungan assemblyman, said the services provided by the government to any land property owners are paid through assessment rates payable to the local authorities.
He said the people have paid assessment rates to the government for the services rendered, such as drains, roads, street lightings, rubbish collection, among others.
“Therefore, instead of increasing the quit rent on these properties, the state government should consider abolishing all quit rents, or at least put a moratorium on the payment thereof for a certain period of time during this difficult time,” he added.
Some 59,710 or eight percent of the 734,388 registered landowners will have to pay higher quit rent effective Jan 1, 2023 following an approved revision on June 16 this year under Section 30(5) of the Sarawak Land Code.
According to a Sarawak Land and Survey Department statement, the current rate has been used since 1994.
The new quit rent rates will increase from 22 sen to RM1.62 per square metre for shophouses; 20 sen to RM1.46 per square metres for other commercial use apart from shophouses and ports, mining, mineral and trace elements use; from 9 sen to 43 sen per square metre for industrial use; office and mixed development use from 5 sen to 23 sen per square metre; for 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.
