GUA MUSANG - The Kelantan government is expected to receive an RM1.7 billion fund from the federal government to solve the water supply issues faced by the state for the past decade.
Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said that previously, the state government had requested an allocation of RM8 billion from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, Amar said that the RM8 billion allocation request needs to be revised and that the federal government agreed that for the RM1.7 billion allocation to be given at the initial stage.
According to him, as a result of a meeting with the Prime Minister, a special committee was established involving the Malaysian Finance Ministry (MoF) and the Kelantan state government.
"As a result of a meeting with the Prime Minister, a special committee was established by the MoF and the Kelantan state government and thank God, two days ago, this committee has had a meeting.
"So far, the initial approval if I can mention is RM1.7 billion.The RM8 billion we asked for needs to be refined, said the Prime Minister," he said.
Amar said this at the Gua Musang Colonial Land Handover Event at Felda Chiku 2 on Thursday.
Previously, the Prime Minister informed that the RM8 billion application by Kelantan to solve the water issue in the state was rejected because the federal government needs to accurately examine its needs.
In fact, Anwar said that there are conditions that needed to be met before the expenditure is approved.
According to Anwar, the government is ready to allocate funds for medium and long term projects. - Awani