Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Malaysian government will prohibit overseas nationals from purchasing homes at the Forest City project off Johor, reported Reuters and TODAYonline.
“One thing is certain, that city that is going to be built cannot be sold to foreigners,” he told the media during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (27 Aug).
“We are not going to give visas for people to come and live here,” Dr Mahathir explained. “Our objection is because it was built for foreigners, not built for Malaysians. Most Malaysians are unable to buy those flats.”
Before Dr Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won in the 14th general election in May 2018, he said he was opposed to the mega-project located on four artificial islands as they will mainly benefit Chinese nationals as the prices of houses there are beyond the reach of ordinary Malaysians. He also claimed back then that Forest City and other Chinese-backed developments show that the previous government was selling the country to China.
Johor’s locals have also complained about the large number of Chinese buying homes in in Forest City, in addition to an oversupply of houses in the state due to such massive construction and the project’s negative impact to the environment, as the massive land reclamation affected the livelihood of fishermen.
Meanwhile, Forest City’s developer Country Garden Pacificview pointed out that under existing rules, foreigners are allowed to acquire properties in Malaysia, including land.
“We believe [Dr Mahathir’s] comments may have been taken out of context in certain media reports,” said a spokesperson from Country Garden Pacificview, adding that they have contacted the Prime Minister’s Office to clear the air on the premier’s latest remarks.
The developer also revealed that buyers from China account for 66 percent of the buyers of residential properties sold so far in Forest City. Malaysians made up 20 percent, while the rest are citizens of 22 other nations such as Vietnam, Indonesia and South Korea.
With a gross development value of around US$100 billion (RM391 billion), Forest City consists of residential, office and retail properties being built over 20 years on four man-made islands with a combined area of 13.86 sq km.
Image sourced from Business Times Sg.com
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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