Johor land not being "pawned", says sultan

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor has denied that his state's land is being “pawned” to build the mega Forest City project.

“When did Johor pawn its land? What does gadai (pawn) even mean?

“With Forest City, Johor will grow. We are not just pawning the land away,” he was reported as saying by the Malay daily Berita Harian in an exclusive interview with the Media Prima Group.

Country Garden, the second-largest builder in China, is developing the Forest City project on Johor.

Covering 14 sq km of land on four artificial islands in Johor and with a gross development value of RM444 billion, Forest City has been successful in attracting Chinese buyers by offering affordable prices and access to Malaysia’s visa programme for long-term stays.

Sultan Ibrahim instead described the project as a catalyst for the state's development.

He said the project is split into an international zone and another reserved for Malaysians.

“In Forest City, we are not selling land, we are selling strata titles… the land will remain Johor's,” he said.

Sultan Ibrahim said Forest City has not only raised the income of Johor, but also made the people in the area richer, such as citizens in Pontian.

“The price of land in Forest City is increasing. The people of Pontian used to just pick duku (a local fruit). Now they have Mercedes Benz,” he told Berita Harian.

A number of critics of the mega project such as former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad have said that  Forest City project compromised Malaysia's sovereignty to China.

Earlier this month, Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Forest City, soft launched its Forest City Golf Hotel and new show units of landed homes in a golf resort development under phase 2 of the development.

Aside from Forest City, Country Garden has three other developments in Malaysia, namely Central Park and Danga Bay, which like Forest City are also in Johor, and Diamond City in Semenyih, Selangor.