Kelantan folk welcome BN-PH manifesto to solve water woes

KOTA BHARU - The offer of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) to solve the long-standing clean water supply issues in Kelantan if given the mandate to govern the state is a strong indication of their determination to tackle the problem.

The head of Kampung Limbat, Bukhari Daud, 67, said the offer outlined in the alliance’s manifesto is not only the most rational but also had been long awaited by the people of the state.

"As citizens, we observe that the current government (PAS) is not serious in dealing with the clean water supply issues despite the fact that the people have been struggling with this problem for a long time.

"The people, already fed up with excuses, took matters into their own hands by building tube wells at their residence even though they had to spend thousands of ringgit. Thirty years is not a short period of time, and this fundamental problem should have been dealt with a long time ago,” he told Bernama here today.

Bukhari said the manifesto was encouraging, especially since the Unity Government had channelled many additional allocations to Kelantan to solve the water problems.

"As the federal government, the BN-PH alliance has a better ability to solve water problems in Kelantan, and their concern has been proven through the provision of additional allocations by setting aside political differences,” he said.

BN and PH today launched their manifesto, which outlined four main thrusts with 34 offers that the people in Kelantan will enjoy if the alliance is given the mandate to govern the state after the polls on Aug 12.

The manifesto also offered a reduction in domestic water supply application charges to reduce the burden on the people.

Food trader Samieha Hasnul Hardi, 35, said it was important to have a reliable and uninterrupted source of clean water to run her business.

Having taken over her mother’s business two decades ago, Samieha has resorted to using a tube well system as she cannot completely depend on the water supply from Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd (AKSB), which is often disrupted.

"As traders, we cannot depend solely on AKSB’s water supply since we need to ensure that our business can operate smoothly every day. We don’t want any disruptions in our business as it is our primary source of income,” she said. - BERNAMA