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PENANG’S Former Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has called for an immediate reassessment of Penang’s quit rent structure following a controversial hike that has placed substantial financial burdens on certain ratepayers, including schools and low-income property owners.
Lim said the state government’s blueprint, which took two years to formulate, has fundamentally failed in its execution. In a social media post, he criticised the current system for producing “exorbitant rates” that disproportionately affect both private and public landowners.
His criticism has prompted his successor, Chow Kon Yeow, to issue a series of clarifications regarding the hike, with another media briefing scheduled to address public concerns.
According to Chow, fewer than 1,000 formal appeals or complaints have been lodged over the new rates, which had not been revised in the past 30 years.
Lim insists that the existing framework must be abandoned and replaced with a new formula that ensures fairness, reasonable calculations, and adherence to social justice principles.
He highlighted the added pressure caused by rising living costs and the potential global economic effects of the conflict in Iran, a major fuel producer.
“The current defective system has created unnecessary burdens for landowners, whether wealthy or poor, developed or undeveloped, or whether the land serves public or private purposes,” Lim said.
He cited several extreme examples to illustrate the flaws. “Something is wrong when the quit rent can increase by more than 3,000 times or 300,000 per cent.
Something is amiss when the quit rent for a 10-year-old low-cost flat can increase fivefold, from RM3,676 to RM22,120, instead of the promised zero increase. Has the income of residents grown five times in the past decade?”
Lim further noted, “Something is wrong when the quit rent for school land can go up by more than 4,000 times from RM2 to RM8,074. Something is very wrong when a state assemblyman can boast about reducing quit rent by over 80 per cent or RM56,000, from the new hike of RM68,068 to RM12,155, or by 90 per cent, from RM4,000 to RM400. Can quit rent reasonably be reduced by such sums?”
He added that it is equally concerning that the Chief Minister has dismissed calls for a fresh start as baseless.
“A responsible government should courageously right wrongs instead of creating and perpetuating errors,” Lim said.
He urged the administration to prioritise the needs of the people over defending bureaucratic decisions.
“A people-oriented government should be protecting and standing by the people instead of defending and standing with ‘Little Napoleons’,” he said, emphasising that the current situation undermines public trust and social equity.
Lim’s statements underscore growing public frustration over property charges in Penang and highlight the urgency for a revised, equitable quit rent system that reflects both the economic realities and social responsibilities of the state. - March 15, 2026