THE improved legal framework under the Land Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025 is both timely and necessary, especially in addressing issues related to religious endowment land and development processes.
He said one of the newly introduced sections, Section 171A, provides a clear legal process for land to be declared as wakaf (religious endowment) or religious allowance land, particularly for use by the Majlis Islam.
“This provision also extends to non-Muslim religious communities, offering a formal legal avenue to register and protect land for religious purposes. This improved legal framework is timely.
“The Bill now provides clear provisions for utility coordination and submission requirements during land development projects,” he said when debating the Bill during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today (May 20).
He also highlighted an application by a religious organisation, ISKCON, located in Arang road, which is under his constituency, has been trying to amalgamate three pieces of land for religious purposes where only one piece is for religious purpose presently.
“The landowner of the other two pieces wish to wakaf the other two to ISKCON, and it has been one year and the land office has not been able to reply,” he added.
Lo said this Bill expressly empowers the State Planning Authority (SPA) to impose levies in development exercises where he said previously, such powers were implied but not clearly written in law.
