Iskandar Development Region – Greatest Gift To Johoreans

[Anonymous]

December 16, 2006 10:39 AM

Iskandar Development Region – Greatest Gift To Johoreans

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa

JOHOR BAHARU, Dec 16 (Bernama) — The launching of the prestigious South Johor Economic Development Region (SJER), later renamed the Iskandar Development Region (WPI) by Sultan Iskandar on Nov 4, was the greatest gift to the people of the state in 2006.

In his speech during the launching, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, the project showed the high commitment of the government to see vast development for South Johor.

“We mean business,” said Abdullah while stressing his desire to see that all projects he envisioned for the region would meterialise.

He in fact assured that he would personally keep a close watch over the progress of the projects which would be undertaken by the national investment arm, Khazanah Nasional.

WPI, which will be injected with an initial capital of RM5 billion from the government, will change the Johor landscape into that of a metropolis such as Hong Kong and Shenzhen,in China.

The development area will extend from Johor Baharu to the Senai airport in the north, Tanjung Pelepas port in the west and Pasir Gudang in the east.

Besides the initial government investments, to be given under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), the region had attracted another RM10 billion from private investors, both local and foreign.

Khazanah Nasional and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will also invest another RM3.4 billion in strategic projects in the WPI.

According to the WPI comprehensive development plan, the project requires RM47 billion in investments to finance its numerous projects during the first five years from 2006 to 2010 and RM335 billion from 2011 to 2025.

According to Khazanah Nasional, several catalyst projects have been identified for implementation. These include the South Johor Industrial Cluster, Waterfront City, Medical Hub, Education City, the state administrative centre and an international tourism centre with a theme park.

Also included will be the fast train project which will link WPI to Kuala Lumpur.

The announcement on WPI relieved the pain felt by the people of the state caused by the sudden cancellation of the bridge that was supposed to link Johor to Singapore.

Abdullah had in a sudden announcement informed the country of the bridge project cancellation on grounds that the Malaysian government did not want to bow to Singapore’s demands to use Johor airspace for its war planes, and to buy Malaysian sand.

Other developments in 2006 include the killing of a mother and her three children at Taman Kota Masai, on March 11.

It was more shocking when the police arrested the woman’s husband for the killings.

The rumours on “Bigfoot” or “Orang Mawas” which started in 2004 continued into 2006, especially when Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman last Feb 11 declared that the 8 to 10 feet “monster” did exist in the Johor forests.

According to him, the evidence of its existence was based on stories from the Orang Asli community.

Following this, the state government sent an expedition to trace the elusive “Bigfoot”. But to date, the expedition had failed to bring back any evidence of the creature’s existence.

— BERNAMA

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[Anonymous]

December 16, 2006 10:39 AM

Iskandar Development Region – Greatest Gift To Johoreans

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa

JOHOR BAHARU, Dec 16 (Bernama) — The launching of the prestigious South Johor Economic Development Region (SJER), later renamed the Iskandar Development Region (WPI) by Sultan Iskandar on Nov 4, was the greatest gift to the people of the state in 2006.

In his speech during the launching, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, the project showed the high commitment of the government to see vast development for South Johor.

“We mean business,” said Abdullah while stressing his desire to see that all projects he envisioned for the region would meterialise.

He in fact assured that he would personally keep a close watch over the progress of the projects which would be undertaken by the national investment arm, Khazanah Nasional.

WPI, which will be injected with an initial capital of RM5 billion from the government, will change the Johor landscape into that of a metropolis such as Hong Kong and Shenzhen,in China.

The development area will extend from Johor Baharu to the Senai airport in the north, Tanjung Pelepas port in the west and Pasir Gudang in the east.

Besides the initial government investments, to be given under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), the region had attracted another RM10 billion from private investors, both local and foreign.

Khazanah Nasional and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will also invest another RM3.4 billion in strategic projects in the WPI.

According to the WPI comprehensive development plan, the project requires RM47 billion in investments to finance its numerous projects during the first five years from 2006 to 2010 and RM335 billion from 2011 to 2025.

According to Khazanah Nasional, several catalyst projects have been identified for implementation. These include the South Johor Industrial Cluster, Waterfront City, Medical Hub, Education City, the state administrative centre and an international tourism centre with a theme park.

Also included will be the fast train project which will link WPI to Kuala Lumpur.

The announcement on WPI relieved the pain felt by the people of the state caused by the sudden cancellation of the bridge that was supposed to link Johor to Singapore.

Abdullah had in a sudden announcement informed the country of the bridge project cancellation on grounds that the Malaysian government did not want to bow to Singapore’s demands to use Johor airspace for its war planes, and to buy Malaysian sand.

Other developments in 2006 include the killing of a mother and her three children at Taman Kota Masai, on March 11.

It was more shocking when the police arrested the woman’s husband for the killings.

The rumours on “Bigfoot” or “Orang Mawas” which started in 2004 continued into 2006, especially when Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman last Feb 11 declared that the 8 to 10 feet “monster” did exist in the Johor forests.

According to him, the evidence of its existence was based on stories from the Orang Asli community.

Following this, the state government sent an expedition to trace the elusive “Bigfoot”. But to date, the expedition had failed to bring back any evidence of the creature’s existence.

— BERNAMA

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