Kedah govt under fire for Malay reserved land U-turn
(FMT) Kedah Gerakan Youth has slammed the Pakatan Rakyat state government for breaching the Federal Constitution pertaining to development of swapped Malay Reserved Land (MRL).
The movement chief Tan Keng Liang chided the PAS-led administration for making a complete policy U-turn on the Bumiputera housing and commercial lots in the development of MRL that had been swapped with non-reserve land.
He was referring to the state government’s decision to increase the Bumiputera housing quota from 30% to 70%, while hiking the commercial quota from 30% to 50%.
The state government also decided to gazette the Bumiputera lots in the swapped MRL as MRL, which Tan condemned as a “blatant violation of non-Bumi housing rights”.
The state government’s latest move effective from July this year was endorsed by the state executive council on May 26.
Over the years in Kedah, the state government had practised land swapping between MRL and non-reserve land to stimulate residential and commercial development on MRL.
Once swapped, a MRL becomes a non-reserve land that would allow non-Bumiputeras to buy the developed properties.
Tan said although suggestions were made to introduce the relief period, the state government had been strangely silent on it.
Under a relief period practised in many states, except Kedah, Bumiputera lots could be sold to non-Bumiputeras if there were no Bumiputera takers for the lots after six months.
