Johor street market to become tourist attraction
JOHOR BARU: Johor is set for a new tourist attraction with the construction of a tourism commercial centre, said the Malaysian state’s Chief Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin on Saturday (Jan 13).
The B5 Johor Street Market in Tampoi is built on a 2.34 hectare site at a cost of RM80.47 million (S$26.81 million).
It is expected to be ready by the second quarter of next year, the chief minister said, adding that it would feature a range of local products.
“This latest development by Johor Corporation (JCorp) is located over part of Pekan Tampoi which in the early 80s and 90s was a small town and a popular public spot,” he said at the launch of the B5 Johor Street Market development.
Mohamed Khaled, who is also JCorp chairman, said B5 stands for Batu Lima (Fifth Mile) or Tampoi Town also known as Pekan Batu 5.
He said the design characterised by Johor traditional Malay architecture and latest trends, will involve five main elements – a retail bazaar, a box park, food trucks, food and beverage stores and a hub for Johor’s cultural exhibitions.
With the combination of the five elements, the B5 Johor Street Market was targeted to attract more local tour operators, art enthusiasts, young people and food operators to operate under one roof, he added.
According to Mohamed Khaled, the B5 Johor Street Market, which offers over 168 retail space with job opportunities for 1,000 local residents, is poised to become an attraction for local and foreign tourists.
“When visiting certain destinations, most likely we will want to buy some local produce from there. It will not be complete if we go to Sarawak without buying the famous salted ikan terubuk or layered cakes.
“Based on this observation we decided on having the B5 Johor Street Market as a centre to market local products,” he said.
With the construction of the B5 Johor Street Market it would deny claims that the Johor development agenda was only concerned with mega projects when it had been the state government’s aspiration to see more people involved in business, he added.
