A mechanism for land revenue collection through the implementation of temporary planning permission in the district of Petaling, Selangor

As the leading district in Malaysia in terms of land revenue collection for four (4) consecutive years from year 2014 to 2017 as according to Laporan Ketua Audit Negara (Auditor General’s Report), Petaling district’s land revenue took a hard dive in year 2018 and started fluctuating despite robust development, involving the three top-performing councils in the state of Selangor i.e. Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (Petaling Jaya City Council) (MBPJ), Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (Shah Alam City Council) (MBSA) and Majlis Bandaraya Subang Jaya (Subang Jaya City Council) (MBSJ). Apart from the Auditor General’s published reports, further reading of the councils’ local plans and their land use plannings had brought to attention of the possible contributing factor to land revenue collections. One of the identified causes of revenue leakage is the implementation of Temporary Planning Permission (TPP) and the flexible nature of land use in a local plan. In this study, a zoning called ‘Limited Commercial’ within MBPJ’s area of administration was the focus as it has sparked a unique land use matter. This flexibility however had led to an issue of contradicting land use when it comes to the National Land Code (Revised – 2020) (NLC). The research explores on how land matters particularly on land use and its related policies affects land revenue through qualitative analysis in Grounded Theory, involving published reports and local plans, interviews, site observations, real court cases and circulars issued by both the land administrator and local authority exclusively on the use of TPP in terms of land use from the perspectives of NLC and the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (TCPA). This research ultimately aims to unearth the issues and how resolving them may very well contribute to the state’s land revenue collections and become one of the new income-generating policy in the state of Selangor. With the active collaboration between researcher and industrial supervisor, a circular was issued by the Department of Director General of Lands and Mines Malaysia to facilitate in addressing the issue by providing guidelines on implementations based on provisions within the NLC, but to the scrutiny of respective State Authority with regards to detailed procedures and fees. A new mechanism on land revenue collection has been developed based on the circular “Pekeliling KPTG Bilangan 2/2023” where the mechanism also addressed the issues of land use contradiction between the two Acts. Future studies may look into the depth and succession of Limited Commercial zoning and its way forward within MBPJ’s administrative area, and further to nationwide use of TPP and its implications. Furthermore, future studies may also look into similar issues in regards to land use matters, specifically the “Inap Desa” programme introduced back in year 1995 by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC) Malaysia; the succession of programme and its way forward in the context of Selangor state, and eventually the whole nation.