KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): The Federal government is losing millions of ringgit in the form of rental as federal land is leased at nominal rates instead of according to market value, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said today.

PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the Department of Director General of Lands and Mines (KPTG) has been leasing a lot of the federal land at nominal value.

He said in the case of YTL Corporation Bhd, the department only collected rental of RM120 a tower a year from the company for the federal land it used to build its towers in 2,000 school under the 1BestariNet project.

"Many of these sites are located in town area, which has a high value," Nur Jazlan told reporters after the PAC meeting today.

He explained YTL had argued that the rental fee of the site for the telecommunication tower was not included in the agreement with the Ministry of Education, and it is of the view it does not need to pay the rental.

After negotiations, Nur Jazlan said YTL finally agreed to pay the sum of RM120 a year for each tower.

"At face value, the government is losing out millions of ringgit, especially in the case of YTL, If YTL is using the tower for their own use, they are not sharing with the government, not for the sole purpose of the 1BestariNet, they are generating revenue from the towers," Nur Jazlan said when asked if the government was losing out on land rental.