IPOH: After 15 years of waiting, S.Krishnan, 49 and his wife S.Rita, 48, were finally granted a Temporary Occupational Licence (TOL) for their home.
The couple, from Kampung Baru Papan Lama Rural Village Plan (RPT) were grateful to have received the title after filing an application last year.
“We are relieved and thankful that the process was completed within a few months, and without any complications,” said Krishnan.
“I am getting older and I keep thinking about my children’s future but now I feel so grateful and happy. I believe under this new leadership, there will be more initiatives that will be introduced by the state government.
“I would like to say thank you to the state government for processing my application quickly without having to wait for years and years,” he said.
It was reported that a total of 12,668 Temporary Occupational Licenses (TOL) was approved by the state government between 2012 and December last year, in Perak.
Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, said the approval involved nearly four million hectares of land with 6,180 approvals for Chinese, followed by Malays (5,553) and Indians (915).
He said the state government is also in the midst of issuing TOL's to 3,000 applicants provided that the location is not in areas such as river reserve land and other restricted areas.
Se Kwan, 54, said before he received the grant, he was always worried about his family’s future as he had no other places to stay.
“We have been toiling on the land for over five decades and we are very happy that our wait is finally over,” said the father of three who is staying at Papan Lama in Pusing.
The odd-job worker thanked the state government for speeding up the process and it showed that the state government was serious in resolving land issues concerning the people.
Hamidah Md Noor, 61, from Felda Nenering she had been waiting to get the grant for many years, since the previous administration.
“They throw all the sweet promises but nothing ever has happened. After 27 years, we finally received the grant last year from Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, thanks to the Pakatan Harapan government.
“We didn’t have to go through a long process and everything was completed within two or three months. I could not believe it but I am so grateful to finally receive the grant,” she added.