JOHOR Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin today reminded people in the state not to be influenced by Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticism of the Forest City project in Gelang Patah.

He said the former prime minister’s allegations that the development involved land being sold to foreigners were not true.

“If he doesn’t criticise, then it wouldn’t be Dr Mahathir. He is just looking for publicity.

“Forest City is only 0.01% of the state, so why is Dr Mahathir focusing attention on this project? Why should such a small percentage be given attention? The people should not be easily influenced,” he told reporters after the Sekolah Agama Bandar Seri Alam 2 project groundbreaking ceremony in Johor Baru.

Khaled said Forest City would generate development in the state, as Johor did not have major and valuable natural resources like other states, such as Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu.

“Johor does not have major natural resources, no oil and gas, and we no longer encourage logging. We do not have products.

“So, we develop small ones (like Forest City), which will boost Johor’s economic growth because if there is no economic growth, we cannot develop the people.

“Johor is also not like Selangor, which has the Klang Valley, which benefits from federal government-driven development. Johor has to think of ways to develop itself.

“So, Dr Mahathir is not helping when he targets Forest City. He does not understand Johor, he only understands the Klang Valley.”

Two days ago, in his speech at Bersatu’s first annual general assembly in Shah Alam, Selangor, Dr Mahathir, who is the party’s chairman, said Forest City was another case of land being sold to foreigners to pay for the country’s debts.

On a separate matter, Khaled said the Johor government had allocated RM185.5 million to build 30 state religious schools this year.

He said the state was committed to developing religious education, and it was a state objective to ensure religious schools remained relevant in a time of technological advancements.

He added that the state government was developing digital applications for religious schools at a cost of RM14 million, which aimed to benefit students.

To date, there are four religious schools in the pioneer project, including Sekolah Menengah Agama Kerajaan Johor (Maahad) and Sekolah Agama Bandar in Johor Baru. – Bernama, January 1, 2018.