Anuar Alias

Payment of Adequate Compensation for Land Acquisition in Malaysia

Abstract Land acquisition involves the compulsory taking of land, often against the will of the landowners. The law in Malaysia requires the state to pay compensation adequately; however, adequate compensation is not defined in the statute. Historically, the courts seem to have succumbed to the pretense that the adequacy requirement may be achieved by giving sufficient monetary rewards in exchange. The questions are what monetary quantum is appropriate to constitute the constitutional mandate of adequate compensation; what should be the measure of compensation; what makes compensation adequate, and what are the tests of adequacy? A questionnaire survey was conducted among practicing valuers to discern their views with regard to the above issues. This survey revealed the views that compensation attributes under the stipulated laws are not adequate to fulfill adequate compensation notion under the spirit of Article 13 of Federal Constitution 1957. There is a need to review the heads of compensation structures by incorporating other countries practices such as payment of solatium or premium as over and above total compensation. Most of the valuers believed that land acquisition need not necessarily present the best alternative for the government to secure land for development.

Analytic Hierarchy Process Decision-Making Framework for Procurement Strategy Selection in Building Maintenance Work

AbstractThis paper presents a study of selection of procurement method in building maintenance management for public universities in Malaysia through the use of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM), particularly the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). There are many different types of procurement methods that have been developed to overcome the weaknesses of the existing procurement method and to meet the range of service requirement. The decision makers are faced with challenges when it comes to selecting the most appropriate procurement method for a specific building as different types of procurement methods suit different types of projects. This research seeks to investigate the current practices of the available procurement methods for building maintenance work in public universities and identify the procurement selection criteria to develop an effective decision-making framework. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 20 public universities in Malaysia with 85% response rate to identify and val...

The effects of spatial dynamics on a wormhole throat

Previous studies on dynamic wormholes were focused on the dynamics of the wormhole itself, be it either rotating or evolutionary in character and also in various frameworks from classical to braneworld cosmological models. In this work, we modeled a dynamic factor that represents the spatial dynamics in terms of spacetime expansion and contraction surrounding the wormhole itself. Using an RS2-based braneworld cosmological model, we modified the spacetime metric of Wong and subsequently employed the method of Bronnikov, where it is observed that a traversable wormhole is easier to exist in an expanding brane universe, however it is difficult to exist in a contracting brane universe due to stress–energy tensors requirement. This model of spatial dynamic factor affecting the wormhole throat can also be applied on the cyclic or the bounce universe model.

AN INITIATIVES-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING SMART CITY

Smart Cities have grown in prominence due to advancement in ICT and the new paradigm of sustainable city management and development. Whilst many authors have proposed guidelines and framework for Smart City implementation, less attention has been given to the assessment of Smart City performance. The mainstream Smart City assessment framework generally entails the quantitative assessment of factors, elements and initiatives categorised under the Smart City dimensions. However, this approach is problematic and impractical because it requires a large amount of different baseline data that is often at times unavailable due to various reasons. This paper describes an alternative framework for smart city assessment, one that is based on the modification of Giffinger’s to make it amenable to leaner data. The proposed assessment framework was adopted to assess the smart city performances of Seoul, Singapore, and Iskandar Malaysia which were then compared. With the use of the framework for the performance assessment, the city that has performed better than the others is able to be identified.

SUSTAINABLE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IN SABAH

Sabah is one of the states in Malaysia has shown remarkable growth in housing industry where its housing sector has thrived owing to growing market and active supply and demand dynamics. However, the rapid increase in housing price has created greater concern among the researchers about the sustainability of the housing sector in this country. The aspect of sustainability has seem been neglected by the industry players. Consequently, it will give impact to the environment which contrasts with the aim of the built environment to create sustainable development. This is because affordable housing is always being associated with cheap and low-quality houses. This research is aim to assess the best area in the state of Sabah to build sustainable affordable housing scheme. The results indicate that area with high utility degree is the best area that conforms to the sustainable housing affordability factors. Likewise, an area with a lower ranking in utility degree can be described as a worst-performing area. The originality of this research has contributed to a real picture of sustainable housing affordability in Malaysia, particularly the state of Sabah. Keyword: COPRAS, MCDM, Sustainable, Housing, Affordability Rosli Said, Rohayu Ab Majid, Anuar Alias, Yasmin Mohd Adnan & Muhammad Najib Razali Sustainable Housing Affordability in Sabah

Importance of Preserving the Non-Use Value of the Cultural Heritage: Case Study of George Town, Penang World Heritage Site

This paper aims to focus on the attitude and responses of the stakeholders on the importance of preserving the non-use value of cultural heritage for George Town, Penang World Heritage Site (GPWHS) conservation. This research has examined the possibilities of several attitudes of the stakeholders in explaining the importance of preserving the non-use value for the GPWHS conservation. Pearson’s Correlation and Multiple Linear Regressions were used in predicting the dependent variable using a set of several independent variables. The purpose of the correlation test was to prove whether the correlation between the dimensions of the independent variables has had any influence on the non-use value of cultural heritage for the GPWHS conservation. A face-to-face interviewing technique using the structured CV questionnaire aided by photo images-supported was applied in this survey. The numbers of completed questionnaires were 294 from local residents and 147 from tourists (domestic and foreign) in GTWHS. This paper reveals that there was a relationship between the local stakeholders’ attitude and responses on the importance of preserving the non-use value and the WTP value for the GTWHS conservation.

Developing a Compensation Framework for the Acquisition of Orang Asli Native Lands in Malaysia: The Professionals’ Perceptions

Abstract This research explores the issues of land rights and land acquisition compensation related to the Orang Asli (the Malay term for indigenous peoples) in Peninsular Malaysia. Acquisition of Orang Asli native lands is inevitable as land is scarce to meet the national growth agenda and socio-economic developments. As an independent country, Malaysia provides constitutional guarantees, and customary land tenure is recognised and respected. Unfortunately, due to the ambiguity in Malaysian legal system in relation to the definition of land rights of Orang Asli native lands, the practice of payment of compensation to acquisition of the land tends to be unstructured, and disparity exists among the different states. It is therefore pertinent to propose a uniform compensation framework for the acquisition of Orang Asli native lands. This research adopts a questionnaire survey as the method of study, the descriptive and inferential analysis technique to present the results. The study showed that laws of Malaysia are deficient with regard to the protection of Orang Asli lands and rights to fair and just compensation. This research found that the position of Orang Asli land rights has not improved much. Due to this unresolved land rights issue, the present structure of compensation as spelt out under Sections 11 and 12 of the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 is perceived as inadequate. As currently practised, in the absence of proper guidelines and regulations, the determination of compensation is entirely at the discretion of the various authorities. Some authorities apply the legislation rigidly, while others are too generous. This research also led to the recommendation that the compensation framework for land acquisition of Orang Asli native lands should possess two categories of compensation -monetary and non-monetary components.