Below is given the procedures for land applications in Penampang District.
1. Submission of application
The administrative procedure of the land application process starts with the submission of a Land Application Form LSF.1001 (Appendix II). Form LSF.1001 consists of four parts. Part 1 is to be completed by the applicant with the applicant’s personal details. Part II and Part IV are to be completed by the District Surveyor, providing details on the suitability of the land being applied for. Part III is to be completed by the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue with information on the status of the land.
2. Received application
The completed Form LSF.1001 is submitted to the District Land Office together with a plan and land area details of the land being applied for and payment of the required fees as stated in Rule 15(e)(iii) of the Land Ordinance (Cap. 68) such as:
Applications & Fee (RM):
Applications under Part IV (Sec. 64 (1) & 70 (3) 20 Ha Fee (RM)5.00
Application under Part II & III where:
- Not exceeding 6 Hectares (15 acres) Fee (RM) 50.00
- More than 6 Ha (15 acs) but not exceeding 200 Ha (494.22 acs) Fee (RM) 200.00
- More than 200 Ha (494.22 acs) except housing and industries Fee (RM) 500.00
- More than 200 Ha (494.22 acs) for housing, industries, commercial Fee (RM) 1,000.00
When an application is received at the District Land Office, the Survey Technician/Land Apprentice will check the completeness and accuracy of the Land Application Forms (Sec.10 Land Ordinance Cap. 68) (LS.4041.3.II/512) dated 5.9.1989 (Registration Guidelines). If the Land Application Form is found to be incomplete or incorrect, the form is returned to the applicant to be completed or corrected before the application can be registered. There is no time limit for the applicant to complete or to correct the application form. If the form is complete and correct, the application will be registered in the land application registration book at the District Land Office and the applicant will be issued a receipt of payment (Rule 15(e)(iii) for reference. At the same time, a personal file for the applicant is opened at the Land Office with a reference number for future communication.
3. Comments from District Land Surveyor
A Survey Technician or a Land Apprentice from the Land and Survey Department is assigned to process the application for submission to the District Land Surveyor for further technic al comments on the suitability of the land applied for. The District Land Surveyor will then either recommend the application for further processing or reject the application.
4a. Rejection of application
An application could be rejected for the following reasons:
- Overlapping application i.e. the land applied for is not available or has already been applied for by some one else.
- The land is gazetted as a reserve area and is not suitable for the application e.g.Village Reserve, Forest Reserve, Ridge Conservation etc.
- There is a customary rights claim on the land
- The land is not suitable for the purpose applied for, e.g. land zoned as a village area is being applied for industrial use
- The land already has a title i.e. owned by someone else. If rejected, the applicant will be notified with full explanation of the reasons for rejection.
4b. Recommendation of application
If the District Surveyor recommends the application, a notice of one month is prepared under Section 13 of the Land Ordinance, whereby a notice of the application is published for public or claimants of native customary rights to the land for their objections and comments.
5. Comments from relevant Government Departments
At the same time copies of the submitted Land Form SF1001 will be distributed to all relevant government departments for comments on the application. Departments are chosen on a selective basis to provide technical comments. Selection depends upon relevance to the application, which, in turn depends on the nature and location of the land applied for and the purpose for which the land is being applied. Selection is decided by the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue or the District Land Surveyor. The following are the Departments to which the land application may be distributed for technical comments.
- Department of Agriculture, Penampang District Office
- Forestry Department (Kota Kinabalu)
- Penampang District Veterinary Department
- Fisheries Department (Kota Kinabalu)
- Water Department
- Penampang District Drainage and Irrigation Department
- Sabah Parks
- District Council
- Geological and Mineral Science Department
- Industrial Department (Kota Kinabalu)
- Penampang District Public Works Department
- District Health Department
- Town and Regional Planning Department (Head Quarters)
- Department of Environment - Sabah and Labuan office
- Environmental Conservation Department, Sabah
- Natural Resource Office, Sabah
- Port and Harbour Department
- Other Departments/Agencies when and if needed.
6. Tabled for the District Land Utilisation Committee Meeting
When comments from all the relevant departments have been received, the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue will summarise the report and make appropriate recommendations for the said applications to be tabled at the District Land Utilisation Committee Meeting. Returned comments are compiled and recorded in the Form ‘Attachment 5’ which provides the agenda for discussion at the District Land Utilisation Committee Meeting. The District Land Utilisation Committee membership consists of three chairpersons, several permanent members and some ad hoc members. The chairperson is drawn from one of three (3) senior officers from the Land & Survey Department headquarters. The permanent members are the District Land Surveyor, Heads of Departments (or Senior Officers) from the District Departments of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Veterinary, Town and Regional Planning, Natural Resource Office, District Representative of the People (ADUN) and the District Officer. The ad hoc members may be drawn from the Department of Drainage and Irrigation, District Council Executive, Water Department, Department of Environment and the Environmental Conservation Department. The District Land Utilisation Committee meets 4 times a year to discuss all land application matters and is empowered to approve at the District Level, land applications that do not exceed 50 hectares, for the purposes of agriculture, aquaculture or animal husbandry. For land applications exceeding 50 hectares in size, the District Land Utilisation Committee will make an appropriate recommendation to the Director, Land & Survey Department for further action. Based on the location and area of the land applied for, the District Land Utilis ation Committee will make one of four decisions: Reject, Postpone, Approve and Recommend for approval.
7a. Land Application rejected or postponed
In cases where the land application is rejected, the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue will notify the applicant with a full explanation regarding the rejection. The application is usually rejected due to new or additional information regarding the ownership or zoning of the land, or for other technical reasons as highlighted to the committee in the technical comments received. In some cases a decision on the land application may be postponed by the District Land Utilisation Committee for technical reasons such as incomplete information regarding the land status or suitability or it is decided that further comments from relevant departments may still be required. In this case, the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue or the Land Office Supervisor, District Land & Survey Department will take appropriate action as decided and advised by the District Land Utilisation Committee.
7b. Land Application approved by District Land Utilisation Committee for 50 hectares and below
When the land application meets all the requirements the District Land Utilisation Committee may approve the land application for 50 hectares and below at the District Level. Following approval, the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue or Land Office Supervisor will prepare Part III of Schedule III of the Land Ordinance, (see Appendix III), and forward the form with the approved land application to the Director, Land & Survey Department. The form consists of seven questions regarding compliance to the Land Ordinance, Cap. 68, ownership of the land, and the capacity and resources of the applicant to develop the land. The Director, Land & Survey Department through the office of Assistant Collector of Land Revenue will notify the applicant of the decision and a letter of offer is prepared and sent to the applicant. The time taken to process land applications usually takes between six months to two years, depending on the number of applications received at the District Land Office and also the location of the land applied for. If the location is remote, it may be difficult for survey technicians to access and this may delay the procedure.
7c. Land Applications recommended for approval by the District Land Utilisation Committee for 50 hectares and above
When a Land Application receives general approval but exceeds the 50 hectare limit, the application is forwarded to the Land & Survey Department Headquarters, Kota Kinabalu, for further action. The Assistant Collector of Land Revenue or Land Office Supervisor at the District Level prepares a ‘Declaration Letter” stating all the Terms and Conditions of the recommendations made by the District Land Utilisation Committee. The letter is then submitted to the Director, Land & Survey Department for further action. Based on the recommendation by the District Land Utilisation Committee, the Director or a senior officer of Land & Survey Department will forward the Land Application with the declaration letter from the District Land Office, to the Secretary, Natural Resource Office, for his consideration. The Secretary will either reject or approve the application based on the information made available to him from the Land & Survey Department. If the application is rejected, the Secretary, Natural Resource Office through his office will notify the Director, Land & Survey Department, the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue and the applicant of the rejection with a full explanation. If the application is approved, the Secretary, Natural Resource Office will instruct the Director, Land & Survey Department to prepare a letter of offer to the applicant with a stated premium fee, and other fees such as survey fees and processing fees. If the applicant accepts the offer, he will be required to sign an acceptance letter and to pay 50 per cent of the Land Premium at the time of signing. Note that only Country Lease Title is levied a 50% premium fees.
8. Survey Plan
For application below 50 hectares will survey technicians from the District Land & Survey Department, survey the area applied for and prepare a Survey Plan. Survey technicians are required to survey and demarcate the boundary of the land and determine if there is an existing claim to the land under customary rights. Survey technicians may also demarcate road reserve boundaries. No other land use information is considered during the survey. In some cases the applicant may engage a licensed surveyor to prepare the Survey Plan. In such cases, the payment of the survey fee is made to the Sabah Board of Surveyors. Survey Plans are prepared at the scale of 1:500, 1:1000, and 1:2500, 1:5000 or 1:12500 for country lots and at the scale of 1:100, 1:500 and 1:2500 for town lots. For applications above 50 hectares will the Director Land & Survey Department, through the District Land Surveyor, appoint a licensed surveyor to prepare the Survey Plan and to survey the land applied for. The survey is conducted to measure and demarcate the exact area of the land title. The surveyor will prepare the Survey Plan and r eturn this together with Part IV, Schedule III (Appendix IV) to the Land & Survey Department District Land Surveyor for his approval. If the District Surveyor approves the Survey Plan, he will prepare the LSF9003 for the preparation of the draft Land Title for submission with the Survey Plan to the Director, Land & Survey Department for his approval.
9. Preparation of Draft Land Title
For applications below 50 hectares is, upon approval of the Survey Plan by the Director, Land & Survey Department and after the finalisation of the LSF 9003 (Appendix III) and the Survey Plan, a Draft Land Title prepared and signed by the Director, Land & Survey Department. For applications above 50 hectares will the Director, Land & Survey Department instruct the preparation of the Draft Land Title by the Title Preparation Section of the Department which upon completion is returned to the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue. Once the Draft Land Title is returned to the District Land Office, the land applicant will be notified of the availability of the Draft Land Title and the need for the applicant’s signature.
10. Registration of Final Land Title
For applications below 50 hectares is the Draft Land Title returned to the District Land Office and the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue will notify the applicant of the a pproval and the need for the applicant’s signature on the Draft Land Title. The land applicant will then have to pay all land premiums, taxes and processing fees before the Land Title is registered and issued to the applicant. If the Land Title is a Native Title, the title will be registered at the District Land Office. If the title is a Country Lease, registration will be at the Land & Survey Department Headquarters, Kota Kinabalu. For applications above 50 hectares will the land applicant be required to settle all unpaid fees including the remaining 50 per cent of the premium fee, licensed surveyor’s fee and processing fees, before the land title is registered and an Official Land Title issued to the applicant.
