Sarawak land-owners and prospective land-owners are going to be 'saddled with high premium rates' which must be paid to obtain extension of leases under the New Land Policy (NLP) announced last month, a state DAP leader claimed today.

"The premium is to be based on the market value of the land which, contrary to the definition of 'land' in the Land Code, will not include the building on it," Sarawak DAP chairperson Wong Ho Leng said.

"In other words, the NLP, in so far as excluding the building from the land in its valuation, conflicts with the Land Code. This policy suffers illegitimacy for lack of statutory backing," he added.

Second Planning and Resource Management Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hasan announced in Miri last month that premiums based on 25% of valuation of the land would have to be paid for renewal of leases of residential lands and 40% for commercial and industrial lands for a period of 60 years.

With additional premium payments, the leases could be applied for a period of 99 years.

The Chinese business community has already reacted adversely to the announcement, suggesting the premium rate should not be more than 10% across the board for residential, commercial and industrial lands.

The ruling coalition's Chinese partner Supp has been caught in a bind as a result, taking all the criticisms from the Chinese community for either not having the clout to get what it wanted or failing to push hard enough to get a lower premium rate.

Supp president and Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan said recently the party's representatives would raise the matter in the next cabinet meeting.

At the same time, the party said it will go on a road show to explain in details the NLP, but DAP has already described it as nothing more than 'political gimmickry'.

No comfort

Wong described the NLP as 'a major disappointment' to land-owners and 'a burden' to would-be land-owners.

"There is no comfort that the State Government has allowed land-owners to apply for extension anytime, that there is a choice to apply to extend for 60 years or 99 years (upon payment of an additional 30% premium), or that the landowners will be permitted to pay the premium over 10 years together with an interest," he said.

There was no basis to justify the implementation of the NLP as a source of government revenue..

'The excuse to use land as a revenue earner is unjustified. Land belongs to the people. There is no reason to saddle them with more burden after they had bought it. Worse, the government should not subject the future generations of land owners to financial burden. There are legitimate ways for the overnment to raise revenue," he said.

He added that the government could also save by reducing corruption and red tape and open and transparent tenders of government projects.