JOHOR BARU: Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has lambasted Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow over the latter's claim that the southern state's Forest City project is a "failed" development.
Chow, on Friday, defended the ambitious Penang South Islands (PSI) project against criticism, saying that it would not end up a "failed" development like Forest City. He said critics had drawn comparisons with Forest City, which has high-rise buildings and a golf resort built on artificial islands.
Onn Hafiz said Chow's remarks were "highly irresponsible, unnecessary and inappropriate".
He said the Forest City project was not a failure, but a "victim of circumstances beyond anyone's control".
"Unfortunately, the project 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 government level.
"For instance, Forest City was supposed to be a major supporting feature for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR). That project was postponed and then cancelled by successive federal governments.
"Also, it did not help when the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that foreigners would not be allowed to buy residential properties there. He then backtracked by saying that they would not be given visas to live there."
Onn Hafiz said the problem was exacerbated when the then government put the Malaysia MySecond Home programme on hold.
"It seems that 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 added that geopolitical developments and events, including the simmering 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."
He said moving forward, the project's prospects had improved in tandem with Johor's economic revival, post pandemic.
Last year, he said, Johor received the highest foreign direct investment inflows of all Malaysian states, which in turn revived interest in Forest City.
Its continued potential, he added, was recognised by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the retabled 2023 Budget in February, when it was announced that a special financial zone would be established in Iskandar Malaysia, with competitive incentive packages to attract international investors and knowledge workers.
"This will further strengthen Johor's appeal as an investment hub and improve the prospects of Forest City," he said.
Penang's RM11 billion PSI project, hotly contested by environmental groups and the fishermen community, will see 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 that 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."