The Perak State Government now imposes full premium for the extension of residential leases and commercial properties in New Villages if the registered owner has passed away.
Rule 8(4)(b) of the Perak Land Rules 1966 (amended 2010) provides that when an expired alienated land for residential purpose within any New Village is realienated to the former registered proprietor, an 80% discount of premium will be allowed.
This rule should apply to family members who inherited the property. Unfortunately, the State Government has interpreted it as not applicable to them. I call on the State Government to immediately rectify this anomaly.
Without this discount, the premium payment would be huge and most new villagers can ill afford to pay it. The fixed rate for premium payable without discount is 50% of the value of the property.
Without this discount, Ching Mee Choo has to pay RM64,875-00 for her residential lot in Kampung Koh, Sitiawan and Ding Heng Ong has to pay RM65,390-00 for his residential lot in Pekan Gurney, Sitiawan.
The great difference of the premium payable with or without discount is illustrated in the case of Mr. Chew Pang Hee. Mr. Chew Pang Hee’s application to extend the lease of his shop lot in Simpang Lima, Sitiawan was approved in 2012 and the premium payable was RM17,063-00. He could not pay the amount as the amount was huge for him. After he passed away, his wife, Mdm Soo Mooi Siong inherited the property and applied the extension of the lease. Her application was approved in 2020 and the premium payable is RM58,527-00!
Rule 8(4)(d) of Perak Land Rules 1966 (Amended 2010) provides for only a 50% premium discount if it is for a commercial purpose. However, no discount is allowed if the registered owner dies and it is inherited by his/her family members.
This 80% discount rule should also be extended to commercial lots in New Villages as New Villages shops are small sundry shops and most of them are hardly surviving due to competitions from supermarkets and better established shops. Even with an 80% premium discount, the State Government will still collect higher premium payments from commercial lots because they are valued at a higher prices.
This 80% premium discount was introduced by the Pakatan Rakyat government in 2008 which also introduced freehold titles for New Villages lands in Perak. Prior to that the Barisan Nasional government only grant 30 years and 60 years leases to New Villages. It gave 35% premium discount for 30 years leases and 50% discount for 60 years leases.
The valuations used by the current State Government are also very high. The State Government must realise that those living in New Villages are generally poor. New Villages are in fact concentration camps formed by the British in or around 1948 during the Emergency. People were uprooted from their original places and forced to be resettled there.
The premium payable should be affordable. I hope the State Government will use the valuations prepared by the Pakatan Rakyat State Government in 2008. Attached herewith is the list of estimated values of residential properties in the New Villagers in Perak in my possession. The State Government has a more detailed copy.
Under the valuations, the highest premium payable for a freehold title was RM7,956-00 for a 612 sq. metre (6,587 sq. ft.) lot and was RM7,222-00 for a 99 years lease.
For an usual 418 sq. metre lot (50’ x 90’ = 4,500 sq. ft.) lot the premiums payable for New Villages under the Beruas Parliament are as follows:-
| Place | Freehold | 99 Years Lease |
| New Village, Ayer Tawar | RM3,553 | RM3,218 |
| Pekan Gurney | RM3,009 | RM2,717 |
| Simpang Dua | RM2,090 | RM1,881 |
| Beruas New Village | RM1,379 | RM1,254 |
These premiums payable should not be considered low because we are not approving any new land to these owners. As stated earlier, most of them are poor. We should emulate the Selangor State Government. The Selangor Government under Pakatan Rakyat and now Pakatan Harapan only charge RM1,000-00 premium for the extension of New Village leases.