GEORGE TOWN: Penang has assured factory operators on the island that the latest valuation of land premiums will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
The valuation will be conducted by a government property valuer using current commercial formula but based on new land appreciation rates, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.
Chow was responding to the concerns of the pioneering factory owners of the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Industrial Zone whose lease of their industrial plots would end next year.
“I wish to assure the investors that we want them to stay, so we will definitely extend their tenure for another 50 (to 60) years but they cannot expect a similar rate which they paid some 50 years ago,” Chow said.
The value of land that was purchased by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) at 10sen psf in Bayan Baru 50 years ago has appreciated to hundreds of ringgit.
“The land was basically a coconut plantation when it was first leased. Now it is premium industrial lots with all sorts of infrastructure,“ he said.
He assured the investors that PDC would work out a win-win situation for both investors and the state.
Chow said it is unfair to assume that the state is making much income from land. Although the bulk of its revenue comes from land transactions, the island has an acute shortage of land for development, he added.
