A total of 96 administrative offices of highway concessionaire companies in Peninsular Malaysia have yet to sign land lease agreements with the government even though the offices have been occupied for one to 26 years, according to the Auditor-General’s Report 3/2025.
According to Bernama, the report said the delays in signing had resulted in lease rental revenue amounting to RM96,000 not being collected by the government.
The report noted that the leasing process involved 27 concessionaire companies managing 33 highways, with the land lease process under the responsibility of the works ministry and the director-general of the lands and mines department (JKPTG).
It said as of Dec 31, 2024, 136 administrative offices were built by the concessionaire companies, but 96 offices belonging to 23 companies had yet to finalise lease agreements with the government.
The report said the reasons for the delays included land ownership processes involving 25 applications to the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) and the works ministry, with eight still being processed at the ministry and JKPTG level.
The report also revealed that six administrative offices under the Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas) did not contain a lease clause in their concession agreements, resulting in no lease rental being charged to the company.
For the period between 2005 and 2024, the audit found that LLM collected lease payments amounting to RM3.27 million for 27 administrative offices across 10 highways before the lease agreements were signed. It said the agency had no legal authority to do so.
The audit recommended that concessionaire companies submit applications and expedite the land ownership process at the ministry, LLM and JKPTG levels.
It also wanted the authorities to hasten the preparation of a supplementary concession agreement for Kesas to ensure lease rentals could be imposed.
