YONG PENG: Small holder Gan Heng Kock had been planting oil palm on state government land illegally.

The 52-year-old and his family had been risking it for years with fear that someday, the authority would clamp down on them.

But all that would be a thing in the past as Gan had received the necessary documents (Form 5A for land revenue) recently.

Worth the wait: Dr Wee presenting the Form 5A to Yee Sai Hian, representative of the 89 villagers who have been given the forms at the Yong Peng MCA branch office.

“I just need to pay the land premium as soon as possible and we don’t have to worry about our plantation being seized by the Johor government,” said the relieved planter.

He was among 89 people who received the Form 5A from the state government.

Gan said he had been applying for land title the past 25 years and was happy that the long wait was finally over.

“We have sleepless nights when we heard about enforcement officers cutting down oil palm trees in an illegal plantationk,” he said.

Another recipient, Lam Sum Yei, 72, who had been cultivating on a 1.2ha agriculture land said he was relieved to receive the land title after a 20-year wait.

“I worked on the land as a planter since the 80s and I am not really sure why I am not entitled to the land,” he said.

Lam added that he was surprised when the government approved his application.

Ayer Hitam MP Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who presented the documents to the villagers recently, said some 94 villagers from Bukit Jintan in Tanjung Sembrong applied for land titles and out of the lot, 89 were approved.

Some 157ha in real estate ranging from 0.5ha to 1.9ha were offered to the villagers.

“Now tha tthe titles were given, all they need to do, is go to the Land Office within three months to pay the land premium costing between RM756 and RM2,294,” he said.

Dr Wee, who is also Deputy Education Minister, had also urged those who failed to get their land titles to re-apply again.

-The Star-