Thursday, April 24, 2008

Confusion over quit rent payment - The Star

April 24, 2008

THOSE used to paying their quit rent using cheques at district and land offices in Perak have been urged to switch to other acceptable mode of payments to avoid hassle.

Former Pokok Assam assemblyman Datuk Ho Cheng Wang said many of the cheques issued by individuals and companies before had been dishonoured.

He said state financial officer Datuk Jamaluddin Al Ameini Ahmad recently told him about the latest move which had created confusion among the public.

Ho, who is also Perak MCA secretary, said cheques of any amount were previously accepted for quit rent payments. But with the the latest move, cheques for RM300 or less were accepted from individuals and a maxi- mum RM1,000 from companies.

Since quit rent payments should be made before May 31, he said it was better for the public to pay via money orders, bank drafts, cash or postal orders to avoid being fined.

Ho was speaking to reporters after a Taiping resident, B. P. Lee approached him for help after being told by a Larut Matang district land office clerk that he had to issue nine cheques to pay quit rent amounting to RM8,701.

Lee had gone to the land office to pay the quit rent for a friend and brought along a cheque for the amount.

“A clerk at the counter asked me to make new cheques amounting to RM1,000 each, hence I have to issue nine cheques for the full amount of RM8,701.

“Previously, ratepayers are allowed to make their payment using just one cheque,” Lee said.

Ho said if Lee could not pay the RM8,701 before May 31, the late payment fine imposed would be RM435.10.

He advised Lee to use other modes of payment to settle the quit rent like issuing a bank draft.

Ho added that the clerk who told Lee to make a total of nine cheques was wrong, as the new move permitted companies to issue only one cheque worth a maximum of RM1,000.

Ho said quit rent payments for this year could also be made at post offices.

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