THOSE who sell or convert the status of land given to them by the state government will be blacklisted and no longer considered for new land applications, Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said.

He said the process of blacklisting those involved is in progress, as their actions hampered the state’s efforts to see more of its people own land.

Most of the people had converted the residential land given to them to commercial status and then sold them for quick profit, he added.

“Some of them waited for up to 30 years to have their land title, but sold their land within a week,” he told reporters after presenting land titles to 71 residents of Kampung Sri Mahkota in Kuantan today.

On the long wait for the issuance of land titles, Wan Rosdy said it was because of the procedures involved, including the screening of applicants.

However, he said the state government has taken the initiative to simplify the process through a new policy that aims to help more applicants obtain the title in stages.

“We know this village was opened in the 1960s and it is understood there were people who submitted their applications in 1985, but the process then was complicated and there were various documents to be submitted and interviews to attend,“ he said.

Wan Rosdy assured recipients of the land titles they would not be affected by the recent increase in quit rent, adding that it only affected those with land exceeding 4.46 hectares. – Bernama, November 30, 2019.