JOHOR Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi has taken offence with Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow over the latter’s remarks labelling the Forest City project a “failed” development.

Defending the mega project in the southern state, Onn Hafiz said Chow’s remarks were “highly irresponsible, unnecessary and inappropriate”.

He added that the Forest City project was not a failure, but a “victim of circumstances beyond anyone’s control”.

On Friday, Chow while defending the ambitious Penang South Islands (PSI) project against criticism, said it would not end up a “failed” development like Forest City. 

Onn Hafiz said the Forest City faced a number of challenges, which were mainly external in nature and beyond the control of the developers. 

“One of the main challenges was the unfavourable national policy ecosystem, with the repeated policy reversals and flip-flops, especially at the federal level.

“For instance, Forest City was supposed to be a major supporting feature for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail. That project was postponed and then cancelled by successive federal governments.

“Also, it did not help when the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that foreigners would not be allowed to buy residential properties there. He then backtracked by saying they would not be given visas to live there,” the Umno leader was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times today.

He said Putrajaya’s decision to put the Malaysia MySecond Home programme on hold also contributed to the problem.

“It seems these policy changes were meant to thwart the success of the Forest City project, which was an innovative and far-sighted development that would bring enormous benefits to the country as a whole.”

He further said the ongoing United States-China tensions and the Covid-19 pandemic also affected the sentiments of international buyers towards the project.

“All this had an impact on Forest City’s attractiveness and progress. Any development, regardless of location, would have been impacted by policies that can change according to the whims and fancies of politicians.”

However, he said the project’s prospects had improved in tandem with Johor’s economic revival post-pandemic.

He also urged Chow to first sort out the issues surrounding the RM11 billion PSI project.

Environmental groups and the fishermen community have criticised the project over the large-scale reclamation works done, including the building of three man-made islands spanning 1,700ha in total, off the coast of Permatang Damar Laut near Bayan Lepas.

A conditional Environmental Impact Assessment approval issued last month outlined 71 conditions that the state government had to meet or fulfil.

Onn Hafiz said Chow should focus on addressing these 71 conditions instead of casting aspersions on Johor.

“I understand the PSI has generated much controversy, but the chief minister’s comments are not in the spirit of cooperation that the Malaysia Madani framework espouses.” – May 8, 2023.