Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that 70% of homes to be built in the project would be classified as Malay reserve, while the remaining 30% would be open to all.

“The project is called ‘Taman Perbadanan Islam’ because we want to balance the Malay population in urban areas in line with the state government’s policy that the Malays must live in urban areas because all facilities were available there.

“If the Malays continue residing in rural areas, they will not benefit from the development, including in terms of quality of life and education,” he said after officiating the ground breaking ceremony for the Taman Perbadanan Islam Maharani project here yesterday afternoon.

Under the project, PIJ Holding would build a total of 548 houses, to be completed in stages by 2020.