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JOHOR BARU,
Malaysia –– Malaysia has long dreamed of
turning sleepy southern Johor state into a
Hong Kong-style metropolis, but instead
abandoned buildings mar the skyline and
nervous Singaporean investors shy away.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi on Saturday launched a
multi-billion-dollar development project
aimed at transforming the region into a
thriving business destination to rival
Singapore.
But compared to the orderly city-state, from
which it is separated only by a narrow
waterway, the shabby state capital Johor
Baru has struggled to shrug off a reputation
for crime and disorder.
Scores of ugly concrete pillars bristle from
the seabed alongside the failed JB
Waterfront Lot 1 shopping complex, which was
part of a planned mega-development but now
lies empty.
The eyesore acts as a warning to investors
that despite the big talk, other new
projects in the state could suffer a similar
fate.
"Of course the Waterfront City is troubling
me," said Johor state parliamentarian Nur
Jazlan Mohamed when asked about the
commercial wreckage and other abandoned
buildings around the city. The concrete
pillars are the vestiges of the
1.7-billion-dollar
Waterfront City, which was launched in 1996
on the eve of the Asian financial meltdown.
The crisis felled the ambitious project
which was supposed to comprise 41 blocks of
commercial, residential and hotel
development, sitting on 47.2 hectares of
land created by driving concrete supports
into the seabed.
Nur Jazlan said that with a population of
just 3.17 million people, Johor must win
foreign capital if it is to succeed. "There
is no economic power here. We have to build
on the investments from Singapore," he said.
Abdullah called the South Johor Economic
Zone, which will be 2.5 times the size of
Singapore when completed, one of Malaysia's
"most important and ambitious initiatives".
The 4.8-billion-dollar project is to include
exclusive residential homes, a logistics
hub, a waterfront city, a medical hub, a
theme park and an educational city.
But Joyce Eng, a property agent at Gold
Ridge Properties, said however that
Singaporeans are reluctant to buy homes in
Malaysia due to security fears and falling
returns on investments.
"Singaporeans are not coming. It is
worrying. An apartment unit that cost
400,000 ringgit (111,000 dollars) 10 years
ago is now going for 300,000 ringgit but yet
there are no takers," she said. "Security is
one of the major concerns. We need a gated
community to attract Singaporeans to
invest," she said, adding that she has twice
been the victim of "snatch thieves", a crime
that is worryingly common in Malaysia.
A lack of clarity and consistency in
government policies was another major factor
in deterring foreign capital, Eng added. Wan
Abdullah Wan Ibrahim, managing director of
UEM Land which is a unit of UEM, the master
developers of the mega project, said
schemes in the growth corridor are also
aimed at investors in the region.
"It is not just for Malaysians... I don't
think there is enough (local) market to pick
it up," he said.
Suhaimi Saidi, an economist with Kenanga
Research, said that while the huge project
will boost Johor's economy, the government
must improve the quality of service and
security, and ensure clean amenities to woo
investors.
"It took a lot of effort by Singapore and
Hong Kong to be what it is today. For south
Johor to reach that level, the private
sector has to take the lead," he said.
"Singapore has adopted a liberal
environment, allowing a casino. I think for
now, Singaporeans will prefer to invest in
the republic rather than in Johor." –– AFP
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