After receiving numerous complaints from Kedahans of all races, the Kedah Chinese Assembly Hall immediately formed a special committee consisting of professionals in various fields to study and investigate the matter.
The investigation of the Special Committee resulted in several shocking and unbelievable findings as follows:
The new rates are exorbitant with the increases ranging from 100% to 9,900%. The adjustment rendered the new quit rents of Kedah the highest among those of other states with the highest increase of not more than 30% of the previous rate. Kedah that has always been characterized as a backward state surprisingly has much higher quit rent rates than those of the more advanced states, namely Selangor, Penang, Johor, Perak etc.
The authority had circumvented the rules and procedures, and did not have the 2004/2005 Quit Rent Revision lawfully tabled and passed.
The 2004/2005 Quit Rent Revision gravely contravened the National Land Code and such contravention amounted to introduction of new laws illicitly.
After consultation with and affirmation by the panel of legal advisors including some senior and experienced specialists in constitutional laws, the Special Committee maintained that the 2004/2005 Quit Rent Revision was unlawful and thus null and void right from the beginning despite its publication in the gazette. Accordingly, the authority does not have any legal standing to implement it and much less collect quit rent at the new rates.
On 18 March 2006, the Kedah Chinese Assembly Hall invited all Chinese State Assemblymen and Members of the Parliament (wakil rakyat) for a meeting cum dialogue session to highlight the findings and request them to bring the subject to the State Assembly for discussion and rectification. Discouragingly, only 2 of them turned up.
On 20 March 2006, the Special Committee presented the detailed findings through a Power Point presentation and a copy of the memorandum to the MB in the presence of some wakil rakyats and NGOs in Wisma Darulaman. The MB promised to look into the matter and instructed Exco Dato’ Chong Itt Chew to take charge of the matter. The latter instructed Haji Noor, the Deputy Director of the Department of Land and Mines to liaise with the Special Committee for detailed discussions.
During the period up to October 2006, representatives from the Special Committee held numerous meetings with Haji Noor. Concurrently, the Special Committee met up with some wakil rakyats on different occasions and requested them to do the needful.
On 31 May 2006, the MB pronounced a temporary rebate to be granted for only 3 years on all quit rent and the deadline for payment without penalty to be extended to 31 August 2006. He further stated that the government would not review and amend the Quit Rent Revision except on case by case basis upon applications.
On 3 August 2006 the Special Committee together with representatives of several NGOs met Exco Dato’ Cheng Itt Chew in Wisma Darulaman and presented a second memo to be passed to the MB. Exco Dato’ Chong proposed to set up another special investigative committee comprising wakil rakyats, the Special Committee, representatives of NGOs and heads of the key departments. The 1st meeting was to be held within 2 weeks from 3 August 2006. Nevertheless, such meeting has never been materialized.
On 31 August 2006, the MB again pronounced the deadline for payment of quit rent without penalty to be extended to 31 December 2006.
In mid December 2006, State Exco Member Dato’ Chong officially announced that the MB would declare some good news on or before 31 December 2006. To date, however, the Kedahans are still awaiting the good news.
Within 8 months after the presentation of the second memorandum, there was still no positive action and response from the government. On 5 April 2006, the Special Committee visited Dato’ Chong who agreed to hold a meeting on 11 April 2007 in Wisma Darulaman to discuss the quit rent issue in detail.
On 11 April 2007, to the surprise and confusion of hundreds of representatives who attended the meeting, the meeting was held under “CHINESE AFFAIRS” instead of quit rent issue. The Indian and Malay NGOs protested that the quit rent issue was not a Chinese issue but an issue of all Kedahans.
On 23 April 2007, another meeting was held and again it was under “Chinese Affairs”.
After the pursuit for one and a half year by the Special Committee, the authority concerned was still procrastinative and indifferent to the issue. Due to the pressure from the amounting dissatisfaction and anger from the public, the Special Committee and several NGOs resorted to using the legitimate and democratic right of the people to launch a peaceful signature campaign from 23 May 2007 onwards as a form of peaceful protest. The campaign shall go on indefinitely until the authority officially rectifies the situation.
Since the launching of the peaceful signature campaign, the Special Committee has received overwhelming response from all Kedahans of all races. More importantly, such response goes beyond all political parties. Thousands of volunteers of all races have gone round all corners in Kedah, from cities to villages, from shop to shop and house to house, in coffee shops, Nasi Kandars, tamans, kenduris, wedding dinners, functions etc, to collect signatures.
To date, the number of signatures collected has already exceeded 30,000, and it will continue to snowball day by day.
In reply to the recent statement made by the MB in the Star dated 26 May 2007 and in Berita Harian dated 28 May 2007, the Special Committee would like to bring up the following points:
There is no “confrontation” at all in this issue. It would be ironical should the Kedahans confront or oppose the government elected by them.
The Kedahans simply want to inform the MB that the government has made a serious and unlawful mistake that causes great hardship to the Kedahans and request him to rectify the mistake immediately.
Since the authority claimed that the Quit Rent Review was already “gazetted”, how could the authority simply give “rebate” at whim without amending the Quit Rent Review via proper legal procedures?
Does the authority seriously think it is administratively practical and viable to review the issue on case by case basis, with more than 100,000 complaints queuing up?
Does the MB think there is a necessity to meet and talk over the same facts and complaints that have already been presented during the last 18 months?
The Kedahans would like to request the authority to:-
i. stop the implementation of the unlawful Quit Rent Revision so as to relieve the Kedahans from the nightmares and the hardship suffered over the past 18 months;
ii. collect quit rent at the old rates for the time being;
iii. refund all extra amount collected unlawfully to the taxpayers;
iv. Propose a new Quit Rent Review which is more equitable, reasonable and acceptable to all Kedahans, if found necessary and inevitable; and
v. Meet and discuss with the relevant NGOs and community leaders before the new rates are implemented.
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David Lim
Chairman
Special Committee for Quit Rent Review
Kedah Chinese Assembly Hall
and the following NGOs:
Kedah Chinese Chamber of Commerce
Central Kedah Chinese Chamber of Industry and Commerce
Southern Kedah Chinese Chamber of Commerce
Kedah Indian Chamber of Commerce
Bar Committee Kedah and Perlis
Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Kedah and Perlis
Kedah Woman and Children Welfare Awareness Committee
Kedah Sikh Association
Kedah and Perlis Taxpayers Association
Simpang Kuala Shop Owners Committee
Gandhi Memorial Hall Sungai Petani
Kedah Senior Citizen Association
Kedah Indian Association
Malay Community Empowerment
Community Awareness Association
Rural Citizen Association Kedah
（亞羅士打7日訊）吉華堂州地稅檢討專案小組聯合16個非政府組織，促請吉打州政府停止不合法的新地稅制度，並採用舊有的地稅率，同時退還納稅人所繳付的額外地稅率。
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