KUCHING, 28 December — The Kenyaran Party (PBK) today increased rents for land and landing or commercial properties from 1 January next year, when business activity has yet to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. denounced the state government.
Boon Lee Shang, president of PBK, said the state government should have taken into account the fact that many businesses were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic before deciding to raise the non-smoking rent.
“How can a business person who owns real estate make money to pay for increased rent when the purchasing power of the public is still weak?” he asked in a statement.
He said the non-smoking rent increase will lead to higher prices for goods and services.
He noted that some properties see a five-fold increase in rent.
He said the quit rent for shophouses will be raised from RM0.22 to RM1.62 per square meter, while the rate will be raised from RM0.20 to RM1.46 per square meter for some commercial properties.
“If businesses fail to recover, there could be a domino effect in many economic sectors,” said Voon.
He said given the current situation, it doesn’t make sense for the Land Survey Department to say the price increase is justified because Sarawak’s non-smoking rent is among the lowest in Malaysia.
“Malaya currently justifies higher rents than Sarawak because the goods and services in Malaya are much cheaper than in Sarawak.
“In addition, the Sarawak government is wealthy and has a surplus in the state’s annual budget, so it does not need money from rent,” he added.
He called on state governments to reduce or absorb 2023 non-smoking rents so business activity can recover.
In a statement today, the Bureau of Land Survey said the state government approved the revision of the non-smoking rent on June 16 of this year, adding that the current non-smoking rent has been in use since 1994.
Based on the Official Gazette dated 30 June 2022, the department said only 59,710 land title deeds were involved in the amendment, only 8% of the total 734,388 title deeds registered in Sarawak. rice field.
The new price for shophouses will increase from RM0.22 to RM1.62 per square meter. RM0.20 to RM1.46 per square meter for commercial premises, ports and mining.
The new tax rate for industrial land will increase from RM0.09 to RM0.43 per square meter. RM0.05 to RM0.23 per square meter for office use and mixed development. Flat rate of RM0.54 per sqm for recreational and oil and gas industrial land use between RM0.3 to RM0.12 per sqm.
According to the ministry, charges for other land uses range from RM0.02 to RM0.08 per square meter.
It also states that for agricultural land (commercial farms) with an area over 100 acres (40.47 hectares), the new land tax rate is RM30 per hectare.