KUALA LUMPUR: A group of Lands and Mines Department (PTG) officers are on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) radar after it was discovered that parcels of Malay reserve land potentially worth billions have been illegally transferred to non-Malays.
The group of civil servants is suspected of being the masterminds behind the ownership transfers.
So far, MACC has already arrested and charged one former PTG officer for allegedly cheating a state government agency into breaking up a 649.2-hectare plot of Malay reserve land in Sitiawan, Perak.
According to an MACC source who declined to be named, cases involving the illegal ownership transfers of Malay reserve land are not limited to Perak. It is also happening in other states.
"Based on MACC's investigations, these illegal transfers happen in rural districts. The involvement of PTG officers cannot be denied.
"There are PTG officers who knowingly change the status of plots of Malay reserve land in the department's system.
"As a result, the Malay reserve land status of these plots of land are cancelled and sold to non-Malay buyers."
The source said in one case probed by MACC, some plots of Malay reserve land were transferred illegally more than 10 years ago without the state government's knowledge.
Most of the illegal ownership transfers involved agricultural land that was later converted into housing estates, factories, and commercial areas.
This made it difficult to restore the Malay reserve land status.
"In some cases, villagers living near Malay reserve land were shocked to find the land was owned by a non-Malay."
Investigations indicate that a key contributing factor to the problem was weaknesses in PTG's IT system.
"It is easy for unscrupulous people to access and manipulate the system. This is not just about bribery but cheating as well.
"Imagine if one acre of Malay reserve land was valued between RM20,000 to RM30,000 some 20 years ago and today the land can be sold for over RM100,000 per acre.
"Surely, the value of the amount of Malay reserve land that has been lost could reach billions of ringgit."
The source said MACC will step up efforts to uncover more cases of illegal ownership transfers.
Previously, the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) raised the issue of illegal ownership transfers with the National Audit Department.
This came after the Auditor-General's Report 2019 flagged the poor management of Malay reserve land in Perak, resulting in plots of land being owned by non-Malays.
More recently, actor Ammar Baharin said he was shocked to discover that a piece of land owned by his family in Semenyih had been illegally transferred to someone else, even though his mother still had the original grant for the property in her possession.