KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): Subdivided buildings and the underground land concept will be included in the Land Acquisition Act under amendments tabled in Parliament today.

The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill seeks to expand the existing definition with regards to the acquisition of a subdivided building.

The Bill will provide for a land administrator to take necessary action in accordance with the Strata Titles Act 1985 where it involves acquisition of part of the land of a subdivided building or land.

The Bill includes a new subsection to provide for the acquisition of underground land. It also stipulates that a plan that describes the extent and depth of the area of the underground land to be acquired must be prepared by the land administrator.

The Bill was tabled by Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Hamim Samuri at the Dewan Rakyat today.

"The second reading for the Bill is in this sitting," said Hamim.

The amendment Bill also enables affected people to make an objection in relation to the compensation made in accordance with the procedures provided under the Act.

Another amendment increases the limit of compensation when appealing to the court.

Also, the amendment allows objections by interested parties who are aggrieved with the compensation offered by the land administrator.

Recall that the issue of underground land acquisition and compensation were widely discussed when the building owners in Jalan Sultan in the city centre protested over the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) underground line in their area.

The Land Acquisition Act currently does not have specific provisions on subdivided buildings and underground land, which posed difficulties for MRT Corp Sdn Bhd to acquire the underground land.

Meanwhile, the National Land Code will also be amended to facilitate the provisions concerning subdivided buildings and underground land.

Under the amendments, the definition of a subdivided building includes subdivision of any building and land.

Another amendment introduces a new section for the imposition of rents in respect of titles with subdivided building and the revision of rents in respect of such buildings.

There will also be a new provision that allows the state authority to take over a subdivided building if the proprietor dies without heir.

With regards to underground land, an amendment to the Land Code provides for the Land Registrar to issue a qualified title upon alienation of underground state land before issuing final title.

Also, the depth of the surface land of the proprietor as approved by the state authority is to be endorsed as an express condition to that title.

There will also be a new subsection enabling the state authority to approve re-alienation for an increased number of years (lease period) although the original title is held in perpetuity, on the application of the proprietor.