Lim Guan Eng slams Penang gov’t over steep land tax hikes, urges fair treatment for kampung villagers

 

DAP adviser Lim Guan Eng has continued his criticism of the Penang state government for imposing excessive land tax hikes on villagers, arguing officials failed to distinguish between rural kampung homes and urban properties.

This time, he urges the officials to check their eyes and to go down to the ground, perhaps to have a reality check.

“These state government people need to check their eyes a little. Surely they can’t fail to distinguish what is a village house and what can be considered a townhouse. Please go down to the ground!” he wrote on his Facebook page today.

He highlighted cases such as Che Salim Bin Rahim, 76, whose tax rose 487 times from RM16 to RM7,810 for land in Kampung Kiajang, Bukit Mertajam, and Jamil Bin Ja’far, 69, whose tax increased 436 times from RM5 to RM2,197 for inherited land in Kampung Masjid Timah, Permatang Pauh.

Lim stressed that small kampung businesses – like RM5 haircut stalls or motorcycle repair kiosks – should not be treated as large enterprises. He urged the state government to show compassion, warning that villagers unable to pay would suffer unfairly.

He also called for fairer rural tax rates and insisted that the government must not ignore the struggles of kampung residents, emphasising the need to protect their livelihoods and dignity.

‘Take care of the feelings of the villagers. Surely you don’t want to just let it go to the state government when the landowners cannot afford to pay. Don’t, don’t…”

Lately, Penang has seen anger over increases in water tariffs and quit rent, as well as clashes between its Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and his predecessor Lim. This has tarnished DAP’s shine in the island-state.

Quit rent is an annual land tax levied by Malaysia’s state governments on landowners, calculated based on land size, category and usage.

“I want to stress that many voters would not have supported the chief minister if they had known the manifesto for the Penang state polls in 2023 would allow the quit rent to be increased by several thousand times,” Lim, who is also the former finance minister said in a March 20 statement.

Chow, for his part, has repeatedly explained that the hike was to make rates fairer and more uniform since they were last updated in 1994. —  Focus Malaysia