SUNGAI PETANI: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today vowed that no segment of the community, including fishermen, would be left out of the National Transformation Programme (NTP).
He said fishing community would receive serious attention from the government under the NTP which aimed to bring development to all corner of the country.
Najib said the fishermen resettlement project in Tanjung Dawai here was an example of how serious the government was about transforming the fishing community.
“I visited Tanjung Dawai on Oct 31, 2012... I came to realise that we need to do something effective to change their lives for the better in the long run, not just a short-term solution,” he said at the launch of the Muafakat Kedah Fishermen’s Settlement here today.
“Then, I came up with an idea to carry out a resettlement project for the fishing community and when tabling the budget for the following year, we allocated RM200 million for this project.
“Giving handouts is simply not enough because we need to do something to secure their future. I want to make sure that our fishermen are not left out of development.”
Present were Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Fisheries Development Authority Malaysia (LKIM) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Irmohizam Ibrahim, State Secretary Datuk Bakar Din, and Tanjung Dawai assemblyman Datuk Tajul Urus Mat Zain who is also Merbok Umno division chief.
Najib also shared with the crowd what had happened when he dropped by one of the fishermen’s homes here before the event.
He said he was touched when the fisherman’s mother wept with happiness because the government had helped her family to own their dream home.
“This is what I want to achieve... to see our fishermen get what they deserve to get from the government... a better life, their welfare is well taken care of with a better home compared to before.
“This is the concept of transformation brought by the government... As we have watched in the video presentation by LKIM here just now, the fishermen said during the 1980s, they did not get any aid from the government. Who was the leader at that time?
“The current government is much kinder by providing the fishermen with monthly allowance, they also get homes, 1Malaysia People’s Aid and the services of government agencies. This is the picture of the transformation that we are carrying out,” he said.
Najib said the Tanjung Dawai Fishermen Resettlement project was the first of 13 projects nationwide, where fishermen only needed to pay a RM150 monthly installment for 30 years.
“Each house was built at a cost RM59,000, but the fishermen only need to pay RM150 per month for 30 years as the government has subsidised the bulk of the cost.
“We could even say that the houses are given free to the fishermen because they are getting between RM200 and RM300 cash aid monthly from the government.”
Najib also approved a RM222 million allocation to solve treated water supply issues in the Merbok parliamentary constituency and upgrade the LKIM Complex in Tanjung Dawai.
He said RM147 million of the amount was allocated to upgrade a water treatment facility in Bukit Selambau to raise its production capacity from 30 million litre per day (mld) to 70 mld, starting next month.
Najib said RM50 million had been allocated to build an off-river storage facility in Sungai Merbok and RM19 million had been allocated to repair water tanks and replace ageing water piping in Tanjung Dawai and Merbok.
“Another RM6 million allocation is for upgrading the LKIM Complex in Tanjung Dawai to further improve the livelihoods of fishermen here,” he said.