UDA to develop Malay reserve land

KUALA LUMPUR: UDA Holdings Bhd is in the midst of its plan to develop about 1.62 million hectares of Malay reserve land nationwide following its success in developing idle land in the country.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Shafei Abdullah said UDA has been surveying Malay reserved land with development potentials in Selangor and Johor to increase their values, which were much lower compared to freehold land.
He said most of them were classified as agricultural land and were left idle as there were no demand for them.
As such, he said UDA was ready to become a pioneer in the development of Malay reserve land, especially those outside of Kuala Lumpur.
“In fact, our board has made the decision to go to all these states outside Kuala Lumpur to identify land that we can develop, as most of these land are located outside the city and would be valuable in the future.
“Right now these areas are not as big as Kuala Lumpur, but I believe they can be transformed into towns,” he told reporters after delivering a talk on Prospects of Bumiputera Properties Development today.
Mohd Shafei also proposed that the government re-evaluate Malay reserve land so that it could increase in value.
“I’m also proposing to split the lots which have been reserved for agriculture, as an acre of agricultural land can be divided and would have many owners.
“The problem arises when there are more than one owners for one lot, as it makes it difficult for the authorities to develop the land as they would need to obtain the approval from the lot owners before it can be developed,” he said.
Mohd Shafei said the problem could be resolved by relaxing the regulations on ownership to allow the land to be developed much faster, thus becoming more valuable.
He also suggested for the government allow the land to be leased to non-bumiputras to increase the land’s marketability and attract interest from banks to provide loans to the landowners.
On the development of waqf land, he said, UDA has identified 2.02ha and 4.05ha of waqf land to be developed in Sabah and Sarawak respectively.
Currently, he said, the company was actively developing waqf land in Penang and has also started to develop 10.93ha in Alor Setar as well as 0.77ha and 16.19ha in Ipoh and Meru respectively. – Bernama