KLANG, 2 FEB: After waiting for more than 50 years, finally 65 year old Alias Ahmad’s dream to own a land grant has been fulfilled by the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Government.
He was among the 112 residents of Lorong Bunga Raya, Kampung Keratapi, who received land grants from Education, Higher Education and Human Capital Development Executive Councillor, Dr Halimah Ali, in a ceremony here.
It was understood that the giving of land ownership grant in the village had made history when it became the first area to receive gazetted Malay reserve land since 1955.
Alias added that his wait this long was worth it when his right to own his land was denied by the Umno-BN government before this.
He said that he has applied to the State Government which was previously administered by Umno-BN several times to acquire the right to possession of land.
However, according to him, the previous Umno-BN leaders often sow sweet promises to hand over the land ownership to residents every time the elections come about, but the promises were never fulfilled.
“Alhamdulillah, the Selangor PR Government listened to the people’s problems and tried their best to help give the land grants to the residents in this area. I am really grateful,” he said.
Another resident, Noor Aisah Zakaria, 45, described the giving of the land grant as finally fulfilling her dream which she had been waiting for over 25 years for.
She initially thought that it was merely a political promise but changed her perception when the promise was successfully fulfilled by the State Government.
“I am very happy and grateful for the giving me the ownership of this land. There is nothing that I can manage to express other than thank you to the State Government, especially to the Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. The Selangor PR Government has proven their attentiveness,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr Halimah when interviewed, said that the State Government is committed to addressing issues of land ownership application that had been going on since the Umno-BN administration.
She said that the State Government’s target after this is to deliver the land ownership grants to more than 100 residents of Kampung Sungai Sireh.
“For years they have applied and have become settlers here, there are even some of them who have passed away. The process to obtain these grants is very complicated because the land that the residents reside on belongs to Keratapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), however the cabinet had handed over to the State Government.
“I have been monitoring this problem and many of them have waited long. Alhamdulillah, as a result from ongoing efforts, the grants are now finally owned by the residents after waiting a long time,” she said.