ALOR SETAR, May 28 — Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said that presently, there is no need for the state government to establish a special committee to protect the Malay reserve land in the state.

He said that this is because the Malay reserve land in Kedah is still protected by the state government’s policy to safeguard the interests of Malay-owned land, thus there is no need for the establishment of the committee for the said purpose.

"Malay reserve land in Kedah is safe, even without a committee it is safe, for other states which have a decrease (in reserve land), then it (committee) should be established. We have an increase, which since 1933, our Malay reserve land has increased by 408 hectares.

"We have a policy in the case of swapping, the replacement land must be five per cent larger than the land removed from the Malay reserves. The policy remains and there is no decrease in Malay reserve land, because the replacement must be wider than the original land,” he said after the state Land Committee meeting here, today.

On Thursday, the media reported that the Perak government, through the Land and Mines Department (PTG), has established a special committee, and soeveral mitigation measures, to restore the status of Malay reserve land in the state.

Perak Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, was reported to have said that, among the initial steps taken by PTG is was to impose restrictions by entering a Registrar’s Caveat for all 3,214 hectares involved to prevent any transaction or transfer of ownership to non-Malays.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Sanusi said that the Kedah government, through the state Land Committee meeting today, approved a total of 642 land titles statewide.

He said that it involves the applications of residents who have been cultivating the land for more than 20 years, with the highest number of approvals involving Kampung Paya Serdang in Pendang district, and Langkawi.

"I hope the owners who were issued the titles do not sell the land. We issued the titles so that they have property and land rights to bequeath to their grandchildren, but we won’t allow them to sell it,” he said. — Bernama