Kota Sultan Ahmad Shah, or KotaSAS, is located to the northwest of Kuantan town and is close to Istana Abdul Aziz. The 2,165-acre township, which is about 30% developed, was previously an oil palm estate for 25 years and had been ready for replanting. However, it was then earmarked for development, which kick-started in 2010.

Developed by KotaSAS Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Tanah Makmur Bhd, it has delivered 2,800 homes and the township has a population of 15,000, according to Tanah Makmur group CEO Datuk Shahrul Nizam Abdul Aziz.

“Tanah Makmur is the only company with a large tract of land in Kuantan. So we decided to have a proper master plan for this development. And with the help of the Pahang government, we actually plan that one day, KotaSAS will be the new township of Kuantan,” he says.

Shahrul explains that as only one type of crop was planted on the land, it depleted the nutrients in the soil, requiring a collaborative and concerted effort to rehabilitate and transform the land into what it is today. As there are still more parcels to be developed, he estimates that it will take another 10 to 15 years for the township to be completed.

For its efforts in rehabilitating the soil as well as reusing and recycling the elements of the land and its landscape, KotaSAS (Precinct 1 to Precinct 7) won Gold under the Landscape Planning category of The Edge Malaysia-ILAM Sustainable Landscape Awards, a feature of The Edge Malaysia Best Managed & Sustainable Property Awards 2023.

Recognising the challenges of the land, Shahrul explains, “Initially, people were a bit sceptical. Who would want to move and live on an ex-oil palm plantation? So we strategised, with the help of [boutique design consultancy] Pentago, on how we could bring in the population and how we could transform a former oil palm estate into a new township where people could play, live and work at the same time.

“And, of course, in designing the entire landscape for KotaSAS, we were mindful of the sustainability as well as the ESG (environmental, social and governance) elements that were mandatory [to follow]. We wanted to make sure that the population and development could co-exist with the existing flora and fauna, and also the sustainability of the water source and its flow.”

Source: The Edge