Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said this is part of improvements introduced by the state government to the quit rent mechanism to ease the financial burden on landowners affected by the 2026 quit rent rate review.
“We have previously announced several measures, including rebates, a new calculation method and land reclassification, after taking into account nearly all scenarios.
“These announcements must continue to be communicated to ensure associations and landowners fully understand the initiatives introduced,” Bernama reported him as saying at a briefing in George Town today.
Citing examples in the Timur Laut and Barat Daya districts, Chow said several houses of worship, cemeteries and association premises previously subject to high quit rents of up to hundreds of thousands of ringgit will now only be required to pay the nominal RM50 rate following the adjustment.
“For instance, Lot 57 of the United Hokkien Cemetery in Timur Laut was previously charged RM735,682, but is now subject to only RM50 following the adjustment. Likewise, Lot 58, which was previously charged RM111,709, is now also eligible for the nominal rate,” he said.
Chow said landowners who have already made payments based on the revised rates announced earlier may apply to their respective district and land offices for refunds or have the amount credited towards future payments.
He encouraged all eligible organisations to submit applications or appeals to their respective district and land offices to enable reviews and updates in the system.
“In principle, most non-profit organisations will qualify for this nominal rate, but applications must still be submitted for verification purposes,” he said.
Currently, there are 1,204 such entities registered with the Penang Harmony Corporation (Harmonico), with 58 applications received by the Timur Laut district and land office.
Chow said the state government was also assisting organisations facing complex cases, including through bodies such as Harmonico.
A state executive council meeting on April 1 agreed to improve the quit rent mechanism in an effort to reduce the burden on landowners affected by the earlier increase.