KPKT Minister ordered to form committee on Forest City foreign buyers

PUTRAJAYA (August 28): Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has ordered Housing and Local Government Minister (KPKT) Zuraida Kamaruddin  to form a committee to assess agreements and deals pertaining to the sale of residential units in the Forest City project in Johor.

The Star, quoting Zuraida, reports that the committee would consist of KPKT, the Finance Ministry, the Johor state government and developers.

“That statement (prohibition of the sale of houses to foreigners) will be studied, and we will call the relevant stakeholders for a meeting to discuss the matter.

“Many units there have been sold in China, and we will look at the sales mechanism and other relevant issues,” she said.

The daily reports that Zuraida clarified that the US$100bil (RM410bil) project had no links with the Housing and Local Government Ministry or the National Physical Planning Council.

On Aug 27, Dr Mahathir said Malaysia will not allow foreigners to buy residential units in the Forest City project in Johor, saying that the project was not built with Malaysians homebuyers in mind.

Chinese nationals account for about 70% of apartment buyers last year, and Country Garden has developed only a fraction of the planned reclamation land of 20sq km.