ALOR SETAR, Feb 12 — A task force has been set up under the Kedah State Land and Mines Office to safeguard the interests and status of the Malay reserve land in the state, thereby preventing it from losing its status.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, said the task force would also ensure that Malay Reserve Land could be developed by providing long-term lease to investors without "shrinking” the proprietary land of the Malays.

"We see that Malay reserve land (sometimes) does not benefit the Malays ... its value will not increase because there is a possibility that those buying the land, which comes with conditions, are not among those who can afford the high prices.

"We have to look back at the terms of the lease, (to see) if it can be extended to allow investors to develop on Malay reserve land (but) which still remains in the hands of the Malays,” he told a media conference here today.

Mukhriz said the move would ensure the two parties, both the Malays and investors, benefit from the development of the Malay reserve land.

Mukhriz said so far there was still more than 70 per cent of Malay reserve land in the state.

Earlier, he delivered his mandate at the Kedah Land Administration Programme 2019 and launched the Kedah Land Code (KTK) 2018, at Dewan Seri Mentaloon Hall, here.

Also present were state secretary Datuk Ammar Shaikh Mahmood Naim and Kedah Land and Mines director Datuk Md Zuki Siru.

In his message, Mukhriz suggested that all land administrators in the state hold a brainstorming session to find ways to increase state revenue.

He said streamlining land tax collection mechanisms and strategies through existing resources, collection of land and premium tax arrears, as well as identifying new revenue that could generate economic growth, were among measures that could be implemented.

Meanwhile, Mukhriz said the KTK 2018 was more comprehensive and adapted to the modern Malay context. It will become a reference for all parties on the state land code as it was more easily understood than the previous Kedah Land Code that came into effect in 1966. — Bernama