JB Forest City ‘Ghost Town’ Works Halted Due To Pandemic, Developers Claim They’ve Resumed

Developer Of Johor’s Forest City ‘Ghost Town’ Condo Says Work Has Resumed

The Forest City development in Johor Bahru (JB) has been under heavy scrutiny lately after a woman from China alleged that a condo unit she bought there turned out nothing like what developers had promised.

While Ms Yang Ting Ting expected to enjoy perks like an “unbeatable sea view” and “overseas Chinese student policy”, what she purportedly got instead was an underdeveloped building with a mere glimpse of the sea.

Following the furore that arose from the allegations, Forest City’s developer has issued a clarifying statement.

Forest City management claims Covid-19 lockdown halted construction

On Friday (17 Feb), China Press reported that Forest City’s management had refuted Ms Yang’s claims.

The management claimed that they previously had to suspend construction, landscape maintenance, and other developmental work to adhere to Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) guidelines.

With the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions, developers were then able to resume work on the project.

Management added that development resumed in stages some time ago in accordance with the Malaysian government’s SOPs.

Forest City is apparently a joint venture between China-based property developer Country Garden and Malaysia’s Esplanade Danga 88.

Management says Forest City still boasts wide variety of retail outlets

The management pointed out that over 30 shops are currently operating on the man-made island.

This was in response to complaints that most shops had closed down in the commercial area of the project.

According to them, there remains a wide variety of retail outlets offering diverse cuisines, daily necessities, homeware, luxury goods, and duty-free tobacco and alcohol from China, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia.

The management also disputed claims that the Malaysian government banned sales of Forest City to foreigners in 2018.

They referred to a statement by Malaysia’s former Prime Minister in Aug 2018, in which he said they welcomed visitors from all countries and regions.

Back then, Malaysiakini reported the statement as saying that foreigners regardless of nationality can reside permanently in Malaysia as long as they meet “certain conditions”.

As the “overseas Chinese student policy”, Forest City highlighted the presence of educational institutions like the Shattuck-St. Mary’s Forest City International School, originating from the United States.

They also claimed that there are several world-renowned schools just a few dozen kilometres away from Forest City.

Woman who bought condo unit vows to fight on

According to HK01, the media outlet that originally reported on Ms Yang’s plight, the China national has vowed to continue fighting to get back the money she had spent on her condo unit.

While she stopped payments in Aug 2021, she had already paid upwards of S$253,000 (¥1.3 million) at that point.

Worse still, she incurred over S$1.3 million (¥7 million) in debt during the pandemic and had to sell her house in China.

She is also her family’s sole breadwinner as her parents are no longer working and have various health issues.

Despite the uphill legal battle she now faces, Ms Yang said that all the challenges have only strengthened her motivation to get her money back.

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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.