Rp1.500 Trillion Housing Project in Malaysia on the Verge of Becoming a Ghost Town

"Housing Project Worth Rp1.500 Trillion in Malaysia on the Verge of Becoming a Ghost Town"

Dream - One of the most ambitious mega property projects in Malaysia, Forest City, is at risk of becoming a ghost town. This prediction arises due to various issues faced by the US$100 billion project, equivalent to Rp 1,500 trillion, developed by Chinese property developer, Country Garden. Throughout its 10-year construction history, Forest City has become a ghost town due to the debt crisis experienced by the developer company.

Financial problems that surround Country Garden have slowed down the development of the fantastic project. In early August, Country Garden failed to make a payment on their bonds worth US$22.5 million or equivalent to Rp2.875 trillion.

Rp1.500 Trillion Housing Project in Malaysia on the Verge of Becoming a Ghost Town

Apart from being burdened by a fantastic amount of debt, Forest City faced various other obstacles during its construction, which began in 2014. The development of Forest City actually did not go smoothly from the beginning. The challenges varied, ranging from regulatory issues to Covid-19 in 2021.

"In 6 months since the start of land reclamation in 2014, the development has been halted due to Malaysian officials being concerned about the environmental impact of this project."

The Singapore government also expressed concern about the impact of the stalled development of Forest City on its neighboring borders with Malaysia.

Former PM Criticizes

In 2018, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia at the time, Mahathir Mohamad, criticized the development of the artificial city. Mahathir referred to Forest City as 'built only for foreigners', especially Chinese citizens, and difficult to access for the majority of Malaysian society financially.

he translation of the given 'Bahasa' text to 'English' while preserving any html tags is as follows: Rencana Country Garden juga diperumit oleh tindakan keras pemerintah China terhadap warganya yang ingin membeli properti di luar negeri. Hal ini merupakan langkah China untuk membendung arus keluar modal. The Country Garden plan is also complicated by the Chinese government's tough actions against its citizens who want to buy properties overseas. This is China's step to stem the outflow of capital

The next challenge came during the Covid-19 pandemic that halted almost everything. Country Garden laid off all of its workers. Meanwhile, many foreign residents who have been living in Forest City decided to leave the artificial city.

According to the South China Morning Post, Forest City is an ambitious project by Country Garden to create a giant artificial city. This artificial city consists of 4 islands created by reclaiming land in the Johor Strait, located between Malaysia and Singapore.

"So a Place for 700,000 Souls"

Seen from the sparkling city of Singapore at night, Forest City is touted to be a place for more than 700,000 residents. However, in its journey, that dream has almost never been realized. Currently, Forest City is only inhabited by around 9,000 residents. Nevertheless, Country Garden remains optimistic by claiming that 80 percent of the housing units in Forest City have been sold.

Currently, the existence of a city worth Rp1.500 trillion is a big bet in the real estate world for Country Garden. In addition to its extensive project scale, Forest City also carries significant risks. Many doubt the sustainability and long-term success of this project.

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