KUALA LUMPUR - Penang has seven lots of wakaf (endowment) land that can be developed with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.2 billion, according to Wakaf Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Penang Islamic Religious Council.
Its board member, Yusri Isahak said most of the wakaf land in Penang is located in the towns of Butterworth and Georgetown, thus making them more valuable.
"We have about 1,250 acres (505.86 hectares) of land with most of the land in the towns of Georgetown and Butterworth.
"Some are valued at RM200 per sq foot and RM300 per foot, so the GDV to develop these sites is very high. With real estate development in Penang, which can be said to be the leader in wakaf land in Malaysia, the value of wakaf land in the state is worth a total of RM3 billion," he said during a session at the Wakaf and Islamic Capital Market Conference today.
However, he said, the profit obtained from managing the wakaf land is not high because of the low rental rate of residential houses and shop lots.
According to Yusri, the main purpose of developing wakaf property in Penang is to help the less unfortunate.
He said developing wakaf land comes with various challenges, including legal problems as there is no bt-laws or enactment on managing wakaf land in Penang.
Besides that, there is the issue of professionalism among the members of the State Islamic Religious Council and the lack of funding, making it difficult to develop wakaf land in the state, he added.
"No bank wants to take the risk because wakaf land cannot be mortgaged. Although Penang has completed the development of wakaf properties, the capital does not come from wakaf. It comes from the federal government,” he said.
In April this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a RM200 million allocation to develop wakaf land in Penang, to be given in the form of a soft loan that will be managed by the Penang Bumiputera Development Council chaired by Tan Sri Khalid Ramli. - Bernama