RTS Station somewhat confirmed to be in Tanjung Puteri....
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): The long-awaited rail transit system (RTS) from Singapore will likely land in Tanjung Puteri, Johor Baru, according to executives involved in the project.
An announcement, expected in the next two months, will finally put to rest speculation on the location of the RTS that is likely to provide the connection from Woodlands in Singapore to Johor Baru.
“The RTS station will be located in Tanjung Puteri, which is where the old Woodlands causeway link is located. From here, the plan is to also develop a tram system to connect the terminal to other major areas in Johor Baru such as Kempas, Bandar Nusajaya and the eastern side of Johor Baru,” said an executive.
Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman announced last week that a further 200 acres would be reclaimed in Tanjung Puteri which would be extended as the new centre for Johor Baru city. He also said trams would be built from Tanjung Puteri to other parts of Johor to ferry traffic.
Ghani said the existing Johor Baru buildings would be developed into a heritage city, a project awarded to Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH).
Previously, there was speculation on the location of the RTS in Johor with three areas short listed. Apart from Tanjung Puteri, the other areas are Bandar Nusajaya in which the state administrative capital is located and Kempas, where the majority reside and commute daily to Singapore for work.
However, the locations favoured in the last few months are Bandar Nusajaya and Tanjung Puteri. This comes as no surprise as there are multi-billion property projects in both areas taking advantage of the cheaper alternative Johor offers compared with Singapore.
Nusajaya is an integral part of Iskandar Malaysia positioned by the government as the corridor that will fuel economic growth in the southern region because of its proximity to Singapore through the Second Link.
The development in Iskandar Malaysia, particularly Nusajaya, is driven by Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Its listed subsidiary UEM Land Bhd owns the bulk of the land in Iskandar Malaysia and has gone into several joint developments.
The latest is a joint venture with Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim to build a RM3.5 billion Motorsport City in Gerbang Nusajaya, Johor. It is located close to the Second Link and is expected be operational in 2016.
The development in Tanjung Puteri falls under IWH, primarily the master developer of all water front land in Johor Baru, and the redevelopment of the city.
Currently, the group is jointly controlled by Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo, who has a 60% stake through his family company Credence Resources Sdn Bhd, with Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor, a unit owned by the state government, holding the rest.
However, the group is said to likely see a shift in the shareholding in the next few months as Iskandar Investment Bhd is expected to end up with 20% of IWH. Credence Resources’ equity interest is to be reduced to 40%.
“IWH is also undertaking massive development in JB at the water front and the existing city itself. However, the progress has been relatively slower compared to the speed at which development is taking place in Nusajaya,” said an executive.
For instance so far, IWH has sold less than 160 acres of land for water front development in Danga Bay. This is primarily because the concept of development is different as IWH is a developer of water front projects compared with housing and industries in Iskandar Malaysia.
“Water front projects are more expensive because the cost of land reclamation itself is RM60 per square feet (psf). In the latest transaction involving Country Garden Holdings Ltd of China, the land was at RM376 psf. So the units are priced higher compared to Iskandar Malaysia,” said the executive.
The executive said the location of the RTS at Tanjung Puteri would help speed up development in the areas under IWH.
The RTS is part of an agreement between the governments of Malaysia and Singapore inked in 2010 as part of the relocation of land belonging to KTM Bhd in the island republic. In return for giving up the land, the government was given 199 acres and Singapore committed to build a RTS with a single customer and immigration clearance in Woodlands.
The target date for completion of the RTS is 2018 and it has not been decided whether it will be along the causeway or below the sea through a tunnel.
Singapore recently announced that its 30km Thomson mass rapid transit line will run through the north-south corridor of the island from Woodlands to Marina Bay.
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theedgemalaysia.com - 10 Dec 2012