Kuala Lumpur: The total area of Malay Reserve Land (TRM) in Peninsular Malaysia reached 4,955,870.89 hectares as of June 30 last year, revealed Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, Datuk Sri Huang Tiong Sii. He indicated that the TRM area has experienced a significant increase of 2,533,150.8 hectares or 104.55 percent compared to the earliest recorded data in 1947, which stood at 2,422,720 hectares. Notably, this figure excludes Penang and Melaka due to the absence of TRM enactments in these states.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, matters concerning TRM are under state jurisdiction; however, they are consistently discussed at the federal level during National Land Council (MTN) meetings. These meetings serve as a collaborative platform for negotiations on land matters between the Federal and State Governments. During a session in the Dewan Rakyat, Huang was responding to a query from Young Syefura Othman (PH-Bentong) about the Federal Government's measures to prevent a decrease in TRM and the existence of mechanisms to address potential issues.

Huang elaborated that following a decision made during the 69th MTN Meeting, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) is tasked with coordinating TRM data collection. Several engagement sessions have been held with state land administrations, in collaboration with the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM), to gather precise TRM data. This collected data is intended to be utilized by the ministry to create a centralized TRM database, which will serve as a reference for future development projects.