In October, a month after the Kampong Pok meeting, Country Garden submitted its Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment. The delays and the required consultative process incurred significant costs, including USD $1.5 million per month for equipment that lay idle. Preparation of the DEIA itself reportedly cost USD $750,000.

Environmental groups felt the DEIA was “inadequate” and did not fully address their concerns about the threat to the seagrass bed or the likely impacts of large scale reclamation on the Straits of Johor. They also felt that the mitigation measures required by the national environmental agency were insufficient. Several environmentalists questioned the legitimacy of the data on which the DEIA was based.

The DEIA provided a basis for further reducing the landmass to 1,387 ha. The largest island was downsized by 30% by reducing its southern extent. The assessment projected a population of 300,000 people and the creation of 62,200 jobs. All of these numbers are contested by multiple sources. The gross development value (GDV) of the 30-year project was reduced by USD $37.5 billion, or 25%.

The DEIA projected an allocation of USD $175 million for “infrastructure improvements” in the area surrounding the project. The project’s multilane highway will probably account for much of that total. The DEIA did not detail how these infrastructure improvements would be financed.

On January 14, 2015, the federal Department of Environment approved the Forest City DEIA in its entirety. The assessment noted that a “huge commitment” would be needed from CGPV to implement all of the agreed-upon mitigation measures. The DEIA also acknowledged that the Merambong Shoal seagrass bed could no longer be considered a protected area despite the mitigation measures that had been promised.

The impact assessment process initiated Country Garden’s involvement in a range of ecological issues, including hydrological studies of water and sediment flow around the islands, possible impacts on the flow of water in the Straits, possible shoreline erosion, repercussions for nearby fisheries, and threats to the endangered seagrass bed, mangrove roots and marine habitat.

Reclamation resumed in February 2015. Two years later, as construction proceeds, the project continues to provoke controversy. It has had dramatic impacts on fishermen’s livelihoods. There also continues to be concern that the Country Garden project will destabilize Johor’s property market by overwhelming the region with new housing.