AFP, Kuala Lumpur :
An ambitious $100 billion island city being built off Malaysia has found itself in troubled waters as the new government takes aim at the development, the latest in a series of China-linked megaprojects started under the scandal-plagued ex-premier to come under attack.
Forest City’s futuristic high-rises and waterfront villas are under construction on four man-made islands in southern Malaysia, just an hour from the affluent city-state of Singapore.
The project, which is meant to house up to 700,000 people once finished in 2035, is being developed by Hong Kong-listed real estate giant Country Garden and a firm partly owned by a powerful Malaysian sultan.
It has been aimed at mainland Chinese investors as an alternative to pricier property in Singapore, with reports saying Chinese buyers have snapped up about two-thirds of units already sold before construction is finished. But the development, which boasts international schools, shopping malls, hotels and even an immigration centre, was troubled from the start.
A clampdown on capital outflows from China hit demand, while it became a lightning rod for public anger at growing Chinese influence in Malaysia under the government of Najib Razak.
Environmentalists have also warned that dumping sand to reclaim land for the city could destroy marine life.
An ambitious $100 billion island city being built off Malaysia has found itself in troubled waters as the new government takes aim at the development, the latest in a series of China-linked megaprojects started under the scandal-plagued ex-premier to come under attack.
Forest City’s futuristic high-rises and waterfront villas are under construction on four man-made islands in southern Malaysia, just an hour from the affluent city-state of Singapore.
The project, which is meant to house up to 700,000 people once finished in 2035, is being developed by Hong Kong-listed real estate giant Country Garden and a firm partly owned by a powerful Malaysian sultan.
It has been aimed at mainland Chinese investors as an alternative to pricier property in Singapore, with reports saying Chinese buyers have snapped up about two-thirds of units already sold before construction is finished. But the development, which boasts international schools, shopping malls, hotels and even an immigration centre, was troubled from the start.
A clampdown on capital outflows from China hit demand, while it became a lightning rod for public anger at growing Chinese influence in Malaysia under the government of Najib Razak.
Environmentalists have also warned that dumping sand to reclaim land for the city could destroy marine life.
