JOHOR BARU: Less than 30,000 properties in the state were approved for purchase by foreigners from 2003, according to the state government.
Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the number of foreign applications approved by the State Lands and Mines Department up to Nov 30 was 29,218 units, which involved landed property and strata ownership.
He said the total foreign ownership worked out to just 2.01% of the 1.45 million properties in Johor.
The mentri besar was responding to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s claim that foreigners were snapping up property in the state.
“If we take four people for every property, based on the projection by the National Property Information Centre, 116,872 persons can fill the units owned the foreigners,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Describing Dr Mahathir’s figure of 700,000 foreigners as “way off the mark”, he said the latter had in his recent blog post also predicted that Johor Baru would be inhabited by 1.5 million foreigners.
“It is clear that Dr Mahathir is inconsistent with the figures he is using, which shows his ill intent in wanting to confuse the people,” Khaled added.
He advised Dr Mahathir, who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman, to seek a clearer explanation from the state government on whether 60 development projects could take in 1.5 million foreigners.
Based on Dr Mahathir’s estimate, the mentri besar said each of the 60 projects must accommodate at least 25,000 residents which he said did not make sense, adding that the most each project could house was between 2,000 and 2,500 people.
“What we are doing in Johor is to continue the growth formula started by Dr Mahathir himself. Also, the state government is not selective on foreign direct investments, including those from China.
“China has emerged as the second largest economic powerhouse in the world and soon it will become the biggest, with its people having invested in properties around the world,” he said.
Khaled accused Dr Mahathir of singing the same tune with the DAP, in making baseless allegations on the development in Johor.
“Johor Baru must be part of the global success and it will not be foiled by Dr Mahathir’s and his allies’ political games.
“Dr Mahathir, please give space to Johor for it to achieve its ambition ... just like when we gave you space and time to make Malaysia a successful nation,” he added.
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