Complaints of quit rent hikes left out key details, says Penang CM

2026-03-16 - 09:04

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said in one case, a lot that saw a jump in quit rent from RM4 to RM8,991 measured about 0.32ha and was used for a transport and trading business. GEORGE TOWN: Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said several landowners who publicly criticised the state’s revised quit rent rates had left out key details such as lot size and the actual business or industrial use of their land. He said some of the cases raised at a recent press conference by Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng involved land that is used for storage of timber or containers, parking lorries, as a used-car sales lot and even factory-related development. “They didn’t mention this in the earlier press conference. They didn’t even mention the size (of the land),” he said at a press conference here today. Chow said that in one case in Juru, a lot that saw a jump in quit rent from RM4 to RM8,991 measured about 0.32ha and was used for a transport and trading business, with lorries parked there and buildings on the site. He said a separate lot linked to the same owner was charged a much lower rate after checks found only one container cabin on it. Chow said in another case, a lot in Simpang Ampat that saw its quit rent rise from RM745 to RM489,000 measured 15.07ha and already had development underway, including semi-detached office units and showrooms. “Yes, it is a big and frightening sum. But look at the details,” he said. Chow said the state had so far received 2,195 appeals over the revised rates, of which 1,695 were still being processed and 532 completed. He added that the relevant state authorities need to revisit the sites to verify the actual use of the land before deciding on the appeals. He said appeals should focus on whether the land had been wrongly classified for industrial or residential use, or misdesignated as urban instead of rural. Chow said paying industrial or commercial quit rent rates also does not allow for the unapproved use of the land. “Paying taxes based on industrial use does not (automatically) grant approval for industrial use,” he said. He said the Seberang Perai City Council had previously carried out exercises to regularise some illegal factory operations, but cases involving new structures or owners who have never declared the use of their land, could still face enforcement action.