Port Dickson will get a new lease of life with the approval of a land reclamation project that involves up to 3,200ha of sea off Lukut.
Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan has assured that no mangrove areas will be affected by the reclamation exercise, which was also approved by the Federal Government.
“The stretch we plan to reclaim is muddy and not suitable for any activity, including tourism…We have complied with all the regulations to ensure the environment is not in any way affected,” he said, without revealing when the reclamation work would commence.
Mohamad explained that the area has to be reclaimed in order for the state government to “build more dwellings and create tourism products”.
“We have no choice but to do so as we cannot develop the existing town which had been poorly planned.”
He noted that Port Dickson only sees huge crowds during school holidays or weekends, despite its status as a resort town.
“We need to build more dwellings so more people can live here. We need to make PD more vibrant.”
The resort town would need more housing units once the 39km Seremban-Port Dickson rail route is rehabilitated, said Mohamad. The federal government has agreed, upon the request of the state government, to rebuild the abandoned rail line under a private-public partnership.
The line was abandoned in 2008 after a freight train derailed. Passenger service, on the other hand, was stopped since the late 1970s.
“Since we will be needing more dwellings once the Malaysian Vision Valley (MVV) project takes off, it is only proper that we get ready for now.”
Touted as a new economic corridor altogether, the MVV will cover the districts of Nilai, Seremban and Port Dickson and will be divided into five clusters, including business, manufacturing, residential and education-cum-sports clusters. It will be developed at a gross value of RM640 billion over a 30-year period.
Image sourced from Fairy Blog.
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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