KOTA BARU: Regent of Kelantan Dr Tengku Muhammad Fa-iz Petra Sultan Ismail Petra said he hoped the new government under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would bring change for the better for the people and the country.
This, he said, would be in line with the people’s wish to see Malaysia achieve developed nation status by 2020.
Stating that he was happy that the federal government had agreed to pay oil royalties to Kelantan, Tengku Fa-iz Petra said he also hoped that projects involving the state which had already been approved by the previous government would be allowed to continue by the present one.
This, he said, would lead to a better relationship between the federal and state governments.
“Among these projects are the upgrading of the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, the Central Spine Road, the East Coast Rail Link, the third phase of the East Coast Highway and the proposal to build the Kampung Cina-Palekbang Bridge,” he said during the royal address at the opening of the state legislative assembly.
Tengku Fa-iz Petra, who is also head of the Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIK), said the council had carried out 89 basic infrastructure projects and also developed human capital throughout 2016 and 2017.
“These projects include 26 involving the construction or upgrading of Yayasan Islam Kelantan schools, four involving the upgrading of roads and bridges and 39 involving the maintenance of drainage in Kota Baru.
“I believe the state government is committed to improving the quality of those living in rural areas, especially the Orang Asli. I fully support efforts to diversify sources of income for rural folk by pioneering new, high-yield subsectors,” he said.
The Regent said, based on the first quarter economic performance report released by the Statistics Department, Malaysia achieved an encouraging growth of 5.4 per cent, though less than the 5.9 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.
“In the same period, the Gross Domestic Product was recorded at RM295.3 billion at constant prices and RM343.2 at current prices. Based on the growth momentum of 4.8 per cent in 2016, the Kelantan economy is also expected to have a positive growth trend in 2018.
“This is in tandem with the growth of the economy in the services and agriculture sectors, taking into account the factor of an increase in investments in the state,” he said.