Land reclamation works for the Forest City and Tanjung Piai Marine Park projects at the Johor Straits have slashed local inshore fishermen’s earnings by half, said Agriculture and Agri-based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The written reply in Parliament comes after researchers say the RM600 billion Forest City project initiated by Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar may ruin fish production.

"Following land reclamation activities for the Forest City and Tanjung Piai Marine Park projects, (inshore) fishermen’s catch dropped by 50 percent because they have to go further into sea," Ismail Sabri said.

He was replying to Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Gelang Patah) who asked for the average earnings of Johor fishermen, the number of inshore fishermen affected by the projects and the drop in earnings.

The minister said a total 1,023 inshore fishermen adversely affected by the projects were from the Johor Bahru and Pontian districts.

This is 63 percent of inshore fishermen in the two districts and about a sixth of all fishermen in the state, Ismail Sabri ( right ) said.

Fishermen in the Johor Bahru district earn an average RM1,151 a month while those in the Pontian district earn RM1,842 a month, he said.

Johor has 6,354 inshore fishermen who earn an average of RM2,660.83 a month.

Royal project

The Forest City project is located in the Johor Straits in the south-western part of the state and adjacent to the Singapore second link, and is now part of the Iskandar development.

The project is owned by Country Garden Pacific View (CGPV), which is 34 percent-owned by Esplanade Danga 88 Sdn Bhd. Sultan Ibrahim owns 64.4 percent of Esplanade Danga 88.

The project, which initially proceeded without a detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA), was halted following a protest from Singapore.

Following the DEIA, the project was broken into four islands to preserve a sea grass area, reducing its original size by approximately 30 percent to 3,425 acres.

Johor Pakatan Rakyat Research Centre (Joprec) said the project cuts across the Merambung seaweed meadow that supports the fish population.

The DEIA is also silent on the local Orang Asli community, the Orang Seletar, who depend on the fisheries for a living, Joprec said.