Back in 2021, Tunku Mahkota Johor (TMJ) Tunku Ismail Idris ibni Sultan Ibrahim shut down claims surrounding the “failure” of the Forest City mega project. Still, things haven’t been looking good for the luxury residential area. Just earlier this year, a woman from China alleged that developers deceived her after discovering the truth about Forest City’s condition.
Speaking of the condition, it seems that the yet-to-be-finished project hasn’t improved much as it has now been dubbed a ghost town. As a matter of fact, it has gotten so bad that even international news outlets such BBC covered it on their publication.
Earlier this week, a reporter named Nick Marsh from BBC News took a trip to Johor Bahru to check out the infamous Forest City that locals are now calling “Ghost City”. The reporter described the residential area, which was supposed to be home to 1 million people, as being the same as a haunted house. As seen in the screenshots above, despite already being in the building, the lights didn’t turn on until moments later.
Nick also interviewed a few Forest City residents, who shared their experiences of living there. One resident, Joanne Kaur, revealed that she has plans to leave the metropolis region as soon as possible. “This place is eerie. Even during the day, when you step out of your front door, the corridor is dark,” she said. Another (now-former) resident, Nazmi Hanafiah, shared how liberated he felt after “escaping” the seemingly abandoned city. “This project was meant to be great and meet expectations but so far it has been frustrating,” he said.
The video then showed several abandoned construction projects around the area. If that wasn’t depressing enough, the beach and river banks are also no longer safe for residents after crocodiles were spotted in the water, hence the alarming warning signs. It was reported that the developers, Country Garden, insist that the Forest City project would be completed one day. However, considering that it has a debt of over $USD 200 billion (RM933 billion), it seems that the developer would be better off selling the land to another business entity.
Country Garden Group from China has yet to respond to the reports of Forest City being a failed project. However, the Malaysian operation said that they are running business as usual despite the “noise and current situation experienced by the Group“. After all the stories we’ve heard so far, is it really surprising that people are now choosing to leave this eerily quiet city?
Watch the full video below:
