Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) surpassed its revenue target of RM570mil last year by over RM100mil, Johor Baru mayor Datuk Mohd Haffiz Ahmad says.
He said the revenue sum was unexpected.
“We thought it would go up to RM620mil at most, but it had risen to more than RM682mil by Dec 31, which was way beyond our expectations.
“This is a very good sign and shows the positive spillover from Johor Baru’s development, which will all go back to the public,” he told reporters after the MBJB full board meeting.
He said spending would focus on public facilities to ensure residents reaped the benefits.
However, the mayor noted that rapid development had also worsened congestion, a problem MBJB aimed to address with other parties.
“We are exploring measures to enhance traffic dispersal, especially with the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project expected to be completed by the end of this year.
“We also want to make the city more pedestrian-friendly to reduce congestion,” he said.
Mohd Haffiz urged developers and contractors, especially those involved in projects within a 3km radius of the city centre, to consider including walkways or pedestrian bridges in their projects to make it safer for people to walk.
He said among the measures in MBJB’s pipeline were a self-driving bus service and increased coordination with Johor Public Transport Corporation (PAJ) to improve public transit.
“There are also several ongoing beautification projects in the city.
“We are also upgrading areas around the Johor Tourist Information Centre (Jotic), which will later be the new location for the Johor Baru Bazaar Karat.
“Once all these projects are completed, we plan to close a stretch of about 300m to vehicles near Jotic, including along Jalan Dato Onn, for a few hours every Saturday.”
He said the road would be open only to pedestrians from 6pm to midnight every Saturday, after projects were completed, likely by the end of April.
