JOHOR BARU – Tunku Mahkota of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said the claim that the Forest City project in Iskandar Puteri was a failed megaproject was untrue, and slander spread by certain quarters.
Sharing on the project development via his Facebook page, the crown prince said Forest City was being continuously and sustainably developed.
Tunku Ismail said the project had contributed RM630 million in income to the state government in the form of, among others, tax and dividends; created 1,200 employment opportunities for locals, and awarded contracts worth RM1.4 billion to 150 local construction companies.
“This directly opened up the opportunity to develop the construction industry in Johor for the long term,” His Highness said.
According to Tunku Ismail, Forest City also received the Global Model of Low-Carbon City Planning and Design Award at the Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards ceremony held online at the end of last month.
“This shows that the project has not failed but on the other hand, it has attracted the attention of the world with its technological developments,” he said.
Recently, a video over 16 minutes long went viral on social media, claiming that Forest City was among the most useless megaprojects in the world.
Tunku Ismail said the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit not only Johor but also the whole world, posed challenges, and the subsequent unfavourable economic situation had also resulted in low sales.
He said that he hoped more investors would come to Malaysia when the economic situation improves. – Bernama, November 20, 2021
