Kedahans who could not take out mortgages on their properties due to a court ruling on Malay reserve land can now heave a sigh of relief.

The state executive council in a meeting yesterday lifted the decision to comply with the ruling.

This is provided under Section 19 of the State Malay Reservation Enactment for the purpose of accepting or holding mortgages for Malay reserve land.

In a letter obtained by Malaysiakini, the State Land and Mines Department has directed all district offices in Kedah to accept application to register mortgages of Malay reserve land which were obtained from such financial institutions.

The directive, signed by its director Md Zuki Siru and effective today, nullifies an earlier directive issued by the department on Nov 16.

The earlier directive was for state authorities to reject bank applications related to Malay reserve land.

This follows the court case between Jamaluddin Jaafar and Affin Bank Bhd, now pending for appeal at the Federal Court.

In September last year, the Court of Appeal decided that mortgages on Malay reserve land with banks or financial institutions not listed in the second schedule of the Kedah Malay Reservation Enactment were "null and void".

State Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang welcomed the decision by the state executive council and expressed his appreciation to Kedah Menteri Besar Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah for resolving the issue.

“The situation would have worsened if the state waited for the appeal at the Federal Court to end,” he said.

Tan, who held press conferences on Jan 2 and 9, to highlight the matter, said the executive council's decision was “right” as the state government had taken into account the impact of the matter on the state and its people.

Kedah Real Estate Housing and Developers Association (Rehda) chairperson Rick Cheng had also appealed to the state government to resolve the issue as it involved 60 percent of the market share and RM1 billion in GDP.