Bernama : Cyberjaya's progress not satisfactory, says Mahathir

Bernama) - Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today (14 May) expressed dissatisfaction with the progress made by Cyberjaya since its development began 12 years ago. "It has seen tremendous progress. You can see buildings, houses and IT-related business here. The university is expanding and MSC is much more active now." "But if you ask me, am I satisfied? The answer is no. I like things faster. More faster, better and sometimes more expensive," Dr Mahathir said. He said the earlier plan for the creation of a community of foreigners working and living here has not happened. "When we planned Cyberjaya, we expected a lot of foreigners to live here in a special environment created for them. An environment that is very attractive where they can interact with each other," he said. There was supposed to be a community that would focus on IT and communication and stay here but what is happening is a lot of people prefer to stay elsewhere and work here, he said. Asked on what was needed to achieve that, Dr Mahathir said the government could consider giving Permanent Resident status to skilled and qualified foreigners besides creating a condusive environment for them. "If we catered more for the people who want to come, I think they will come. I think there must also be a quality of life here as that is important. They should also have a good environment to work in," he said. Having good infrastructure will also attract them to come here. It includes having clubs, places for relaxation, sports areas, and more houses. "You can see here too many cars. They all come in their cars. I would prefer they live here, ... attend club, play tennis and walk to office. That was what that was planned but it has not happened." Dr Mahathir said this at the Cyberjaya Malaysia-Bridging Business Needs Globally, Asia Pacific Outsourcing Services Post Event Tour, here today. He delivered a special talk on "Malaysia-Today's Knowledge Economy." The tour was organised by Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Cyberjaya. Cyberjaya is the brainchild of Dr Mahathir.