Perlis MB says he is now besties with Shahidan

SHAH ALAM - Perlis Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli said he is now great friends with Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

“In the past, Shahidan and I could not even have a proper conversation with each other, because he was in Umno and I am in Pas, we would just say one or two words to each other.

“I am thankful that god has opened his eyes and heart to aid us during the state elections, we are now great friends and he has helped a lot in terms of being an intermediary between the state government and the federal government,” he said during his speech at the Pas 69th Muktamar, here, today.

Shukri said he could not believe that Perlis which had been under Barisan Nasional’s (BN) rule for 70 years and six months was now under Pas' administration.

“When we took the reins of this administration, we slowly but surely had to clean up the mess from the previous administration.

“But now with the appointment of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as an unofficial advisor to the four state governments administered by Perikatan Nasional (PN), we hope to bring Perlis to greater heights,” he said.

He added that if Umno was inclined to criticise Perlis for only continuing development projects during BN’s reign in the state, they should consider paying all of the state debts.

“They (BN-Umno) have been making noises that we are only continuing their previous development projects.

“This is only because we had to finish what they have abandoned, we had to clear their mess,” he said.

Shukri said under Pas administration the state government has managed to secure 2.5 billion in investments.

“For a small state like Perlis, this is a big deal. We also recently managed to secure RM1.3 billion in investments.

“We hope if we continue in this pattern we would no longer be dependent on the federal government and could show them Perlis’ prowess,” he said.

On the rice supply in the state, Shukri said Perlis did not experience a shortage of supply as compared to other states.

“Even though we are small, we have no problems with rice supply as of now.

“No one needs to line up to buy rice everything is enough,” he said.

Shukri ended his speech by inviting everyone to the state for Visit Perlis Year 2024-2025.