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KAJANG: The RM330 million in unclaimed properties and land, based on 2007 records, reflect the poor awareness of estate planning across all ethnic groups in the country, said Finance Ministry deputy secretary-general (policy), Datuk Mat Noor Nawi.
He said some one million land titles have not been transferred to the rightful heirs, either because they could not be tracked or they could not come to an agreement to mutually benefit from the division of the estate.
“It is hardly surprising that a large number of inherited plots of land are left unsold and not utilised,” he said in his opening speech at the International Real Estate Research Symposium here yesterday.
“These [unclaimed properties] have been in existence through decades and I still have not seen how we can unlock the potential of such land.
“Yes, there are legal issues attached, but can we do something about such land so that the beneficiaries can benefit, or even better, the community can benefit?”
Mat Noor said the unclaimed properties and land require urgent attention as they have the potential to be developed.
He also said the symposium, themed “Unlocking the potential of real estate”, was timely and in line with the government’s plan to achieve high-income status for the country. “There is a need to unlock real estate potential as much as possible and in the shortest time,” he said. — Bernama
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 30, 2014.
