Johor to streamline southern projects

Johor to streamline southern projects

By TEH ENG HOCK

JOHOR BARU: The state government will streamline all developments in the southern region of the state so that it is inline with the Southern Johor Economic Region (SJER) master plan.

Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the move was necessary to help the government investment arm Khazanah Nasional better understand the development of the area under SJER.

This includes the development planned by Johor Corporation (JCorp) so that all plans are coordinated and do not overlap in the SJER. JCorp has many huge projects in southern Johor, with the bulk in the Johor Baru city centre and Pasir Gudang.

“In order to get a master plan, I propose that JCorp’s current plans are inserted into the SJER.

“I have taken the initiative to bring this to the attention of the Prime Minister because I feel that Khazanah might not collect adequate information on the ongoing plans in Southern Johor,” he said.

The SJER development involves an area spanning 2,000km including Pontian, Kulai, Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang. JCorp projects include the Pesada International Convention Centre in Johor Baru and palm oil-based Biofuel Park in Tanjung Langsat.

Abdul Ghani, who is also JCorp chairman, was speaking to reporters after pledging RM200mil of waqaf in the form of shares to Kumpulan Waqaf An Nur Berhad.

The shares are from JCorp’s subsidiary companies Kulim (M) Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd and Johor Land Bhd.

Claiming that JCorp is the first corporate company in the world to pledge waqaf via shares, Abdul Ghani said Kumpulan Waqaf An Nur now holds 4.67% of Kulim (RM142mil), 9.25% of KPJ Healthcare (RM45mil) and 3.54% of Johor Land (RM13mil).