KUALA LUMPUR: The government is looking at ways to prevent a repeat of the Jalan Duta land issue after Putrajaya was ordered to return some 106.54ha of land to a company.
This follows the Kuala Lumpur High Court's approval of a liquidator's request to transfer the land dubbed as Duta Enclave to Semantan Estate Sdn Bhd on Tuesday.
The issue surrounding the land, which houses several government buildings, centres around the execution of the acquisition, which the court says was not done lawfully.
The government has since filed an appeal against the court order to return the land to the liquidator.
Anwar said today the court's decision had serious implications.
"The land was acquired for public use, for government agencies," he told reporters at the launch of guidelines on the management and governance of federal statutory bodies.
Anwar said while the government respected the court's decision there was a need to look for a way to prevent such issues from happening again.
"If the principle (in the Jalan Duta case) is used, what about public land acquired since or before independence? Land taken for government purposes or taken over by the private sector or private sector purchases of agricultural land?
He said this was why there was a need to take a closer look at the issue, and if necessary, review relevant laws.
"The Cabinet needs to discuss it next week," he said.