Stop selling ‘dreams’ to the people, Amanah tells Kedah state govt

ALOR SETAR - The Kedah state government, under the leadership of Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Noor, is accused of frequently making rhetorical statements and indulging in 'selling dreams' through the announcement of mega projects to the people.

Kedah Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) chairman Asmirul Anuar Aris said that such actions only harm the future of the people and the state.

He said the state government should focus on its agenda and implement the mega projects that have been announced before.

"Amanah Kedah is surprised by the announcement of the state government to develop a high-speed maglev (magnetic levitation technology) train transportation system on Langkawi Island.

"In political terms, the Kedah government is currently promising to build a palace in the clouds.

"Such promises will not be fulfilled unless they are merely rhetorical statements," he said on Thursday.

On Monday, Sanusi witnessed the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Kedah Investment Holdings (PKB) and Korean company Royal Eco Train Development (RETD) at Wisma Darul Aman.

The cooperation aimed to enable a comprehensive study on the potential of Light Rail Transit (LRT) services using maglev and transit-oriented development (TOD) to be developed on Langkawi Island.

Asmirul echoed the statement of Umno Kedah information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin, who previously said that Sanusi's problem was that he likes to 'dream up to the stars', but his actions did not align with his dreams.

"From my observation, since Sanusi became Menteri Besar, many mega projects have been announced, but ironically, without much thought, his supporters blindly accept them without looking at the actual facts and realities," he said.

At the same time, Asmirul also raised questions about the status of other megaprojects that were announced earlier.

"I think the people also want to know the status of what happened to the Widad Langkasuka project in Langkawi worth RM40 billion announced by Sanusi, witnessed by then Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on March 30, 2021 at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.

"Where did the investors, touted as companies from the Middle East, Bin Zayed, go? The company has disappeared and the major shareholders of the Widad company are said to have disposed of their shares in the company," he said.

Furthermore, he said it would be better for Sanusi to first manage projects related to water supply issues and complete the Sungai Petani race track, which is a public interest project.

"Young people have been eagerly awaiting the use of the race track. Make it a reality before building the maglev train project in Langkawi.

"The people of Kedah should not believe all the plans of the state government; it is simply a new episode of 'selling empty dreams' to divert attention from the weaknesses of the current state government administration," he said.