JOHOR BARU: DEVELOPERS undertaking reclamation work along the seafront in Iskandar Malaysia will have to contribute 30 sen for each square foot of land reclaimed, to a fund set up by the state.
Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the contribution would be used to help fishermen whose livelihood had been affected by the reclamation.
He said the decision, which was reached at a recent state executive council meeting, would take effect immediately.
“Developers will have to contribute 30 sen for each square foot of land they reclaim.
“The payment must be made before they start the reclamation projects. The payment system will be retrospective and will include projects already undertaken.”
He said the decision was made following complaints from fishermen in Iskandar Malaysia that the reclamation projects had affected their livelihood.
“There are 3,237.5ha of reclamation projects approved for Iskandar Malaysia, which means that the state government can collect RM104 million for the fund.
“The affected fishermen will receive cash assistance from the fund annually beginning next year and the amount that they will receive will be announced during the state budget presentation,” said Khaled, adding that the fund would be managed by the state financial officer.
The state government has already directed the Land Office to issue letters to the developers.
Khaled was speaking to the media after chairing the state Umno liaison committee meeting here yesterday.
He said the state government was also looking at several options to help those affected by the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC).
“There are several suggestions and we are studying the best mechanism to help those affected.”
The residents of six villages affected by the project will be relocated to new settlement areas under Phase 1 of the PIPC.
The villages involved are Kampung Sungai Kapal, Kampung Langkah Baik, Kampung Teluk Empang, Kampung Jawa, Kampung Batu Mas and Kampung Sebong.
The PIPC is set to become the region’s oil and gas (O&G) hub and promises to provide some 70,000 jobs to locals.
It aims to attract RM170 billion in investments in the next 10 to 15 years. It is also home to Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) RM89 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid), which will spearhead the country’s and the region’s O&G hub aspiration.
On another matter, Khaled said the state government was studying the possibility of allowing property developers to pay the necessary fees they were required to pay the state government in kind, namely by giving commercial lots that they are developing to the state government, instead of paying in cash.
“We will award these commercial lots to Bumiputera entrepreneurs as it will boost Bumiputera ownership of commercial properties in the new development areas. At the moment, most Bumiputera entrepreneurs can’t afford to own commercial properties. This is one of the ways the state government is helping them.”
On the state government’s proposal to impose a levy on Singapore-registered vehicles entering Johor, Khaled said he was waiting for a decision from the Federal Government.
“I hope the Federal government will understand the need to expedite the decision,” said Khaled.
Singapore had recently expressed concern over the massive reclamation works in Johor to build a man-made island in the Straits of Johor, near the Second Link off Tuas.
It is concerned about the potential transboundary effects of the project called Forest City, which involves several connected islands with a total land size of about 2,000ha.
The Department of Environment had issued a temporary stop-work order against all coastal land reclamation works for the project following a decision to study in greater detail the environmental impact of the project.
The project is being jointly developed by Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings and Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor.