KUCHING: The penalty for late payment of quit rent will be reduced from 50 per cent to 5 per cent.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state government agreed to the reduction following a discussion with the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sarawak (ACCCIS) which had bought up the matter.
“I have had a good discussion with ACCCIS. There are things that we are trying to solve.
“About the quit rent, I ask the director of Land and Survey Department Sarawak (LANDAS) and Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian to engage with you (ACCCIS), and that we have (agreed to) reduce the penalty,” he said during the ACCCIS’s Chinese New Year (CNY) dinner at Imperial Hotel here on yesterday.
Previously, he said, the penalty for late payment of quit rent was 50 per cent of the total amount of quit rent payable.
“But now I said ‘don’t’ (fine a penalty of 50 percent), only 5 per cent based on compounded rate.
“If you don’t pay, of course, it will be like the bank, but less than 50 percent,” he said.
Earlier, ACCCIS president Datuk Tan Jit Kee said the association had raised a few issues of concerns gathered from the members and the local business community during a courtesy visit to the Premier last month.
Among the issues raised include the hike in quit rents for commercial and industrial properties.
