Johor MB assures no project approval if it harms public welfare, addressing water and electricity concerns amid RM164 billion data centre boom.

JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor state government will not approve any project, including data centre developments, if it causes hardship for the people.

Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi emphasised that the government will not gamble with public welfare merely to attract major investments.

“We will never allow the people to suffer by making irresponsible decisions,” he said in a recent interview.

He acknowledged that water and electricity supply adequacy is a key debate as Johor becomes a focal point for foreign data centre investments.

The state and federal governments have comprehensively reviewed Johor’s water supply planning with short, medium and long-term projects.

Onn Hafiz stated that 38 projects worth RM15.3 billion will be implemented to ensure water security and support industrial growth.

Regarding data centres, applications are assessed by the Johor State Data Centre Development Coordinating Committee.

The committee will only approve Tier 3 and Tier 4 data centres using air-cooling technology, which does not require large amounts of water.

“If a data centre demands a high intake of water, we will not approve it,” he reiterated.

He clarified that recent water disruptions in Simpang Renggam and Benut were wrongly linked to data centres, as none operate there.

“I appeal to the Bangsa Johor community to be cautious when hearing irresponsible news and incitement,” he said.

He felt compelled to clarify the issue as it could make investors uneasy about committing to the state.

“Matters like this will have an impact on investors coming into the state,” Onn Hafiz added.

Johor has emerged as Malaysia’s leading destination for data centre investments.

A total of 42 projects worth RM164.45 billion were approved as of the second quarter of 2025.

This development contributes about 7.8% to the nation’s operational IT capacity and has created around 6,000 high-skilled jobs.

About 60% of the country’s data centre capacity is targeted to be concentrated in Johor by 2030.

The state government last year halted new approvals for Tier 1 and Tier 2 data centre developments.

 The Sun Malaysia