Malaysia gives nod for Princess Cove reclamation project in Johor Strait to resume

MARISSA LEE Straits Times 15 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE - Malaysia has given its go-ahead to a reclamation project in the Johor Strait which had suspended work last year after drawing concerns from the Singapore Government.

The reclamation works will involve extending the Johor Baru shoreline nearer to Singapore.

This project, called Princess Cove, is different from the approval of the Forest City project to raise four giant man-made islands off Tuas near the Second Link with Johor.

Malaysia's Department of Environment (DoE) on Tuesday gave the green-light for the Princess Cove high-rise luxury home project on a 47.1ha plot, that includes two land reclamations on both sides of the Causeway off Johor Baru.

Princess Cove will showcase hotels, offices, skyparks, clubhouses and shopping malls.

The two reclamations span 31.7ha - roughly the size of 45 soccer fields.

The developer, Hong-Kong listed Guangzhou R&F Properties, had obtained the land title in November 2013.

Construction began in April last year upon approval by the Malaysian government, but was halted in June when the DoE decided that a detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) report and hydraulic studies would have to be carried out, given the plot's proximity to the Singapore border.

With reclamation works set to resume, the farthest end of the proposed landform will be 290m from the Singapore boundary upon completion, said the Princess Cove DEIA report.