MP admits Forest City’s freehold status, but says it's reclaimed land

Clearing the air over his earlier explanation regarding the "freehold" status of Forest City in Johor, Sekijang MP Anuar Manap said the properties were constructed on reclaimed land, and not on existing plots in the state.

“It is built on reclaimed land. Forest City did not take existing land and make it a strata land. They reclaimed the land; it did not exist before,” he added.

He also explained that there are Malaysian buyers, so the accusation of selling Johor land to foreigners does not arise.

“Let's say there are 100 houses, not all the owners are foreigners. As this is strata property, it is a shared land, (and this) does not belong to the foreigners,” he told Malaysiakini.

As for his earlier comments, Anuar said perhaps he did not make himself clear and this led to confusion.

The MP was earlier quoted as stating that the freehold status was only for strata titles, and not the land.

He accused Dr Mahathir Mohamd, who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson, of attempting to provoke people who do not have a proper understanding of the issue.

"They're running out of issues," he had said.

In a blog posting, Mahathir had published photographs of himself next to the signs, and claimed that it contradicted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's claim of a 99-year leasehold.

“Maybe Najib doesn't know. Maybe Najib did not read the signs," he added.

He had implied that Najib had misled the public when he said Malaysia's sovereignty is not undermined by the Forest City project as the units are sold on a 99-year leasehold basis.

The former premier said many Malaysians are unable to convert small plots of land into freehold status while foreigners can easily get this in Forest City.

He also reiterated his concerns over the ownership of the project which was almost exclusively marketed to buyers from China.

Forest City, built on 1,400ha reclaimed land in the Straits of Johor, has also been declared a tax-free zone.

The RM450 billion project by China’s developer Country Garden sits on four artificial islands that will eventually house 700,000 people with office towers, parks, hotels and shopping malls.-Mkini