IPOH, Nov 28 — The National Land Council (NLC) will sit on December 3 and the issue whether Perak can give out freehold titles is expected to be discussed.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu confirmed the issue was on the agenda.

Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the Perak State Assembly here today, Ahmad Faizal was asked to elaborate on his Budget 2019 speech yesterday where he announced the state government would allow the people to apply for 99-year land ownership from next year.

Ahmad Faizal was asked if this was a prelude to Pakatan Harapan backtracking on its manifesto to give out freehold titles.

Ahmad Faizal said at this point, the state’s decision was to open the application for 99 years.

"If they still have 30 years lease, they can apply to increase to 99 years with discounted premium,” he said.

"It is up to the council whether it allows Perak to give out freehold titles,” he added.

He said Perak, being part of the Federation of Malaysia, needs to follow the uniform law on land matters.

"Although land is a state matter but Perak cannot be changing its traffic light system from red to go while green is stop,” he said.

On August 13, Ahmad Faizal, in his winding-up speech during the state assembly sitting, said it was against the Federal Constitution to bestow permanent titles to new villages.  

He cited a National Land Council (NLC) decision in 1988 to double the leasehold period from 30 to 60 years to support this claim. 

Ahmad Faizal also said that any matter regarding freehold titles would be referred to the NLC to be discussed.

However, one of his excos, constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari, disputed this and said there are no such restrictions in the Federal Constitution. 

This prompted Ahmad Faizal to suggest the special workshop to determine the best ways to implement the PH manifesto in Perak, including the issuance of land titles.