SHAH ALAM: The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry will submit an appeal to the Selangor state government to lower land premium charges on two plots meant for fire stations.
This move was aimed at lowering the costs to build the fire stations in Setia Alam here and Bukit Rahman Putra in Sungai Buloh, and to ensure that the projects can be completed in time for the benefit of the people.
Its minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said they were hoping that the PKR-led state government would consider the appeal, as the projects are meant for the public and not for commercial use.
"We will file an appeal to the Selangor state government. It is not that we are asking for the premium to be waived, but the charge should be reasonable, maybe RM500,000 should be okay.
"Besides, the state government is not losing anything as the land plots were not owned by the state, they were surrendered by property developers to the state government for the fire stations to be built.
"The Selangor state government must not take advantage and try to profit out of thin air, as in the end, the people would be the one at loss from such act," he said at Selangor Umno headquarters, here earlier today.
Noh called for the press conference following Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali's latest statement regarding the issue.
Azmin's office had on Wednesday issued a statement saying that land premium for fire stations in Selangor is given a 75 per cent discount, as per Selangor Executive Council decision in 1997.
The statement came about after Noh had, a day earlier, raised the issue again, urging the state administration to not take advantage by charging RM5 million for the land premium on the Setia Alam plot and RM2.4 million on the site in Bukit Rahman Putra.
Reiterating his stand, Noh today said Azmin should not apply the same calculation for commercial development on projects meant for the public's benefits.