Monday, November 26, 2007

Land titles: Amendments should undo injustices

New Straits Times
by Roger Tan

I REFER to the report "Stiffer penalties against squatters" (NST, Nov 21) wherein Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was quoted as saying, after chairing the National Land Council meeting, that the National Land Code would be amended soon to extend the implementation of the e-Tanah online land database system to the entire country.

On July 24, the Bar Council handed over a memorandum titled "Prevention and Protection against Fraudulent Land Transactions" to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid.

A copy of the memorandum was also later extended to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

In the memorandum, the Bar Council has proposed amendments to Section 340(3) and (4) and Section 187B of the National Land Code.

These amendments, if passed, would legislatively reverse the unjust decision of Adorna Properties v Boonsom Boonyanit delivered by the Federal Court in 2000.

For the past six years, Adorna Properties has not only put a landowner at risk of losing his property to fraudsters and forgers but also when the landowner loses his land to these crooks, he loses everything without any compensation or remedy.

The Bar Council calls on the government to ensure that the amendments to the National Land Code will also include provisions to come to grips with these serious ramifications of Adorna Properties to undo the injustices perpetuated by this case for the last six years.

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