Is Malaysia’s iconic Forest City project in danger of being shelved?
Pakatan Harapan’s unprecedented victory at the recent 14th general elections and also Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s phenomenal return to political power and abrupt rise to superstardom have led to an economic uncertainty of sorts within Malaysia.
Prior to GE14, the newly-appointed PM Tun Mahathir has made a critical yet alarming remark about the future prospect of Forest City @ Iskandar Malaysia, a special offshore economic zone in Johor, which was the brainchild of ex-prime minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak and his now relegated Barisan Nasional government.
Due to extravagant expenditure and financial greed under BN rule in the previous federal administration, countless mega infrastructures in major cities nationwide have somewhat flourished and boom, particularly within Greater KL and Iskandar Malaysia, all of which were duly approved, apparently without strict oversight or stringent transparency.
Apart from Forest City, other mega projects such as ECRL, LRT-3, MRT-3, PNB118, TRX and Bandar Malaysia are also in danger of being shelved or side-lined pending feasibility studies and viability reviews. Since most of the iconic projects have explicit Chinese interests in them, this episode has triggered alarm bells among many investors and developers alike both locally and abroad.
It would be ashamed and detrimental to the Malaysian economy if the new PH government does intend or plan to dismantle the iconic projects before their due completion. Property investment from overseas especially China is seen as a quintessential source of income or revenue for the country throughout the past decade. It truly would not augur well for Malaysia’s financial future if potential Chinese investments were to be curbed or curtailed! 😉
