The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is considering introducing measures to deal with the rising number of land allotments with missing owners. Guidelines could be put in place within the year.
Land in regional areas is often left neglected as the younger population moves to urban areas. Land with little to no value is rarely transferred to heirs as the processing fees can sometimes exceed the value of the land. As such, there are a growing number of blocks of land left in the names of long-since deceased owners. In 2012 it was estimated that as much as 86,000 hectares of agricultural and forest land could have missing or unknown owners by 2020. This number is expected to reach 570,000 hectares (almost 8 times the size of Singapore) by 2050.
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