Johor to formulate clearer housing guidelines

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 5): After the negative limelight over the US$100 billion Forest City mega project in Johor, the state government will now come up with clearer guidelines on residential development, especially involving the issue of gazetted international land.

“Johor’s current housing policy, especially those concerning international lots for foreigners such as the Forest City project, is seen to have some weaknesses,” Housing and Rural Development Committee chairman Dzulkefly Ahmad told the Malay Mail today.

He said the Johor government has formed a task force to examine loopholes and inadequacies related to the overall property development situation in the southern state.

“The task force will also identify the other shortcomings with regards to the overall housing development in the state,” Dzulkefly told the English daily.

The Malay Mail report also said that the task force will collect feedback from the various stakeholders before recommending policy changes.

Dzulkefly said the task force convened yesterday when they met internally with the state government’s housing unit.

“The final part is for the task force to engage with developers and also the various housing associations to look at the overall situation,” said Dzulkefly.

If all things go according to plan, the task force should complete their findings by next October.

Dzulkefly also revealed to the English daily that the state government’s meeting with the Housing and Local Government Ministry regarding Forest City scheduled for Monday was postponed.

He said a rescheduled meeting will take place shortly when the state authorities will put their plans to Putrajaya.

This will include the proposed reserve of 30% of properties in the Forest City project for Malaysians.

Forest City is still in a nascent stage of development, with reclamation works ongoing. Four artificial islands will cover a total surface area of 14 sq km on the Johor Straits, bringing Malaysia’s shoreline closer to Singapore.

Over 700,000 foreign residents are expected by 2050.

The weekend saw the official opening of the RM1.8 billion Forest City Golf Resort and Jack Nicklaus Designed Forest City Legacy Golf Course.

Forest City apartment units are priced from more than RM600,000 (for 500 sq ft unit) to RM7 million (penthouses), sold at an average RM1,200 per square feet, a new level of premium-range property prices in the state.

In the latest development, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has confirmed yesterday that Chinese nationals may purchase residential units at Forest City, but visas will not be issued to them.

It was also reported yesterday that Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian said that "Johor does not discriminate or segregate foreign investors or property buyers according to regions or countries of origin”.

However, homebuyers were still subject to rules and regulations, including within Iskandar Malaysia’s economic growth corridor, he said.

Osman also said that the inaccurate information in local media reports have caused “misunderstanding” among some parties regarding the Forest City project.

He also countered claims that the project does not contribute to the national economy is.

Osman said Forest City’s developer Country Garden Pacific View (CGPV) had invested about RM11.5 billion in the project and gave contracts worth RM1.4 billion to 150 local contractors.

"At the same time, CGPV has employed up to 1,545 workers to date, with 1,200 of them being locals who have paid a total of RM51 million in income tax.

"In addition, CGPV is actively recruiting new graduates and will continue to do so in the future," he explained.