A senior government official revealed that Putrajaya cannot prevent overseas nationals from purchasing homes in the Forest City mega project off Johor, as the development is under the jurisdiction of the state government and it’s situated in an international area, reported Free Malaysia Today.
“No restrictions can be imposed on foreigners buying those properties. This is beyond the jurisdiction of the federal government,” said Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad during a parliamentary session on Thursday (1 Nov).
This is his answer to MP Khairy Jamaluddin, who queried if the federal government can ban foreigners from purchasing the remaining unsold houses in Forest City, a US$100 billion project comprising four man-made islands.
Raja Kamarul said the Housing Ministry has introduced several measures to encourage Johoreans to buy homes in the massive development to prevent resentment among locals.
“The government feels there should be a social impact assessment so that the project will not be exclusive,” he explained, adding that such exclusive zones will foster ill will among the people of Johor.
After Pakatan Harapan defeated Barisan Nasional in Malaysia’s latest general election in May 2018, Forest City faced an uncertain future as Prime Minister Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad didn’t look kindly on developments that are mainly marketed to foreigners, particular, Chinese nationals.
Forest City’s developer Country Garden is also grappling with falling sales in China, as Beijing clamped down on outbound capital, including transfer of money to other countries for property purchases.
In addition, Malaysians in Johor are unhappy over the large number of foreigners, especially Chinese nationals that have bought homes in Forest City, which is envisioned to house about 700,000 people when it’s fully completed.
Locals also complained about Forest City worsening the housing glut in the state and its impact on the environment. In particular, the massive reclamation has negatively affected the livelihood of fishermen.
Meanwhile, Kamarul revealed that since 2007, the federal government has approved 4,499 applications to purchase homes under the Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H).
Notably, the MM2H scheme lets foreigners legally reside in the country on long-stay visas of up to a decade. Among its perks is that foreigners are allowed to buy a home in the country costing at least RM1 million.
He said of the approved 4,499 applications to buy homes, Chinese nationals accounted for the highest number with 1,664 units (36.98 percent).
This is followed by UK citizens (357 units), Bangladeshis (250), Iranians (217), Japanese (208), Pakistanis (192), Singaporeans (175), Australians (147), South Koreans (127), US nationals (115) and people from other countries (1,047 units).
“Based on the 2010 Malaysian Population and Housing Census data from the Department of Statistics, there are 106,197 foreigners living in their own homes nationwide,” Kamarul added.
He said this in reply to MP Wong Shu Qi, who asked about the number of homes owned by overseas nationals in Malaysia.
Photo source: FMT News
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