MIRI – Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) has criticised the move by the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government to increase land taxes (quit rent) for various categories of properties during the current period of economic hardship.
State PH information chief Abun Sui said the hike will put more burden on many in the business and industrial sectors as well as those with big farms.
“We in Sarawak PH oppose this latest hike in the quit rent as announced by the state authorities.
“At a time when we are still struggling to revitalise the economy and when the outlook is still very uncertain for the coming year, GPS made such a decision to increase the quit rent by a big margin,” he told reporters here.
He asked how the decision was justified. “GPS and Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg have often boasted that the state government has plenty of money, that Sarawak is very rich.
“Why are they now imposing extra financial burden on the people?” he said, calling on the state government to immediately reverse the hike.
Sui, who is also Sarawak PKR deputy chairman, said proper dialogue sessions must be held with all affected business, industrial and agricultural sectors.
Yesterday, the Sarawak Land and Survey Department announced the quit rent increase for various categories of properties throughout this vast state effective January 1, 2023.
In a statement posted by the state Public Communications Unit, the department announced that this increase does not involve land cleared of excise duty in 2016, namely land for agricultural use with an area of less than 100 acres, and land for residential purposes.
“The new land tax in Sarawak is relatively lower compared to the land tax imposed by other states,” said the department.
The department said that 59,710 land and property owners in the state, whose properties fell under the affected categories, will be impacted by the rate increase.
That makes up about 8% of the total number of property owners statewide.
This latest hike of quit rent is a revision of the rates that had been imposed since the last revision in 1994 under the State Land Code, the department said. – The Vibes, December 29, 2022
