By Farah Wahida:
The growing metropolis of Johor Bahru is undoubtedly emerging from the shadows thanks to the creation of the Iskandar economic growth corridor in 2006.
Founded in 1855 as a tiny fishing village called Tanjung Puteri, the city today is a far cry from what it was before. There are now many residential areas, shopping malls and multi-billion ringgit projects, contributing to a surge in local and foreign investment activity.
But Johor Bahru still has some problems that need to be addressed, residents said.
While there have been major improvements to the city’s infrastructure and general outlook, some places especially older residential areas are still quite filthy, said 56-year old convenience shop owner Khoo Eng Keng.
“For example, my shop is located in Stulang here and we have a major problem with rubbish dumping in the area.”
“I have noticed the authorities including council officials coming along and cleaning up the piles of rubbish but unfortunately the people themselves seem to be dumping rubbish wherever they want,” he added.
Khoo is urging authorities to conduct cleaning works and awareness programmes on the importance of cleanliness.
65-year old retiree Mohd Norazman Firdaus also wants the government to upgrade existing facilities within older housing estates, instead of focusing on new areas like Nusajaya and Setia Tropika.
“The authorities should upgrade the parks and playgrounds to ensure that the people can benefit from them.”
Meanwhile, communications executive Liza Goh Keng Swee, aged 25 is worried about the spread of gambling dens and prostitution rings in Stulang Laut.
“It is worrying to see such activities openly taking place and it is more alarming to notice youngsters including those in school uniforms frequenting the area.”
Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru Malaysia, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
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