At a press conference, the caretaker chief minister said approvals had been granted through 56 concessions to reclaim more than 11,000 acres by “various chief ministers over the years”.

“To date, only 3,000 acres have been reclaimed and only 300 acres have been developed,” he said.

“But there was no proper planning, no oversight, there was no master plan or blueprint. How long more do we wait (for a proper plan)?”

He said this was why he set up MWEZ as an oversight body, involving representatives of various government agencies, to monitor all projects along the zone called MWEZ.

On the impact of the reclamation projects on fishermen, Sulaiman said only 1.5km of land would be reclaimed from the shoreline and fishermen would benefit from better jetties.

He added that he wanted Melaka to be like Singapore and Penang, which were similar in many ways to the state yet more developed despite a lack of natural resources.

“I do not want Melaka to be just a weekend tourist destination.

“This (MWEZ) is for the next generation, not for me, so that Melaka is on par with other states,” he said, adding that the project would create jobs and catalyse the economy.

MCA president Wee Ka Siong, who was present at the press conference, noted that various impact assessment studies had been carried out on the project, including on the environment, society, transport, heritage and fisheries.

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