Govt focusing on efforts to bridge development gap in four states

KOTA BHARU - The government is focusing on efforts to bridge the development gap in four states in the peninsula, namely Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis and Kedah, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

He said effective and swift measures were implemented without sacrificing governance based on the national development plan as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) for the period 2021-2025.

"We will focus on the four states in Peninsular Malaysia, namely Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu and Kelantan, which are still lagging behind and require attention.

"We need to find ways to speed up the project, as it is of no use that we have already approved an allocation of RM2.57 billion if its implementation cannot be carried out efficiently," he said.

He said this to reporters after officiating a meeting of the state heads of departments and federal agencies here today.

Fadillah hoped that coordination between the State Federal Development Department and the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister's Department (ICU JPM) would bring about benefits and ensure the whole initiative could be implemented.

"Based on records, Kelantan received the highest development allocation among the four states for 2023. The federal government is always serious about ensuring that development will continue to be implemented regardless of political differences," he said.

In a separate development, Fadillah said that based on the census, as of Sept 11, Kelantan had the highest total number of household heads (KIR) of poor and hardcore poor families in the peninsula, namely 67,772.

"Of the total, 57,355 are poor KIR and 10,417 are hardcore poor KIR," he said. - BERNAMA