6/10/2009 — The Star Biz
MERSING: Radiant Starfish Sdn Bhd will develop Laguna Marina, a RM3bil integrated development on the seafront of Mersing.
The development, which has received the Department of Environment approval, involves land reclamation of 809.37ha scheduled to start this year.
“The project is expected to take 10 years to complete,’’ Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said.
He said this after the inaugural meeting of Johor’s Implementation and Coordination Committee (ICC) under the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) development master plan.
Ghani is also chairman of the ICC, which oversees the implementation of projects in Mersing which is part of the ECER, which also covers Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.
He said the waterfront development would consist of star-rated and boutique hotels, waterfront homes, a water theme park, convention centre, cultural centre, private medical centres as well as commercial and business areas.
He said Radiant would build a jetty complex for a new ferry service that would operate 24 hours and able to handle large capacity vessels, as well as a fishing jetty.
Ghani declined to divulge any information about Radiant, which he said was a local property developer.
“Soon-to-be-launched tourism-related projects as well as the planned infrastructure development will transform Mersing into an even more popular tourist destination,’’ he said.
Mersing is the gateway to islands such as Pulau Tengah, Pulau Sibu, Pulau Rawa and Pulau Tioman. It is also the main eco-tourism gateway for the Endau-Rompin National Park.
Ghani said the Federal Government had allocated some RM215mil under ECER for three infrastructure projects in Mersing this year.
These include RM200mil for the construction of a 68km coastal road linking Mersing to Kg Sedili, RM12mil for the upgrading of a 56km track between Kg Kahang and Endau-Rompin National Park, and conversion of the roundabout in Mersing town into a traffic light intersection.