KUANTAN, May 13 — The claims that Islam is threatened and Pahang is a secular state are statements that create bad perceptions and can disrupt the harmony of the people in this state.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the state government has already allocated a lot and implemented various programmes towards strengthening the teachings of Islam in Pahang.

“Apart from assistance and donations channelled to mosques, surau, converts and newlyweds through the ‘Bantuan Prihatin Pahang’ financial aid, the state government also has presented 14 Bills (RUU) or Enactments related to Islam which have been passed in this state assembly.

“Like the bill to prevent Muslims from leaving Islam (apostasy), our waqf-related bill has also been implemented, and the bill related to wills and ‘tarekat’ to prevent the spread of heresy,” he said.

He said this during the motion of thanks for the Royal Address of the Sultan of Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at Wisma Sri Pahang here today.

Commenting further, he said the state government through the Pahang Foundation is actively developing tahfiz education specifically for the children of Pahang, starting from the pre-school stage up to the diploma level.

“Tadika Tahfiz Negeri Pahang started with one branch in 2018, but now has 25 tahfiz kindergartens throughout Pahang. The educational modules have started to grow and are used in 4,000 Tabika Kemas (Community Development Department nurseries) throughout the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said that a total of 34 arrests have been recorded from January until now, including for the offences of trespassing on government land in accordance with Section 425 of the National Land Code (Act 828) and mining without a licence under Section 158 of the Pahang State Mineral Enactment 2001.

He said the Pahang State Enforcement Unit (UPNP) has also completed the action of destroying built structures and crops on encroached work land covering an area of 122.2 hectares throughout Pahang, involving land owned by Perbadanan Setiausaha Kerajaan (PSK) and state government subsidiaries.

“Additionally, I call on all of us to uphold the decree of the Sultan of Pahang, to respect the decision of the Kuantan High Court which set aside the judicial review of Musang King durian growers in Raub district recently,” he said.

At the sitting, Wan Rosdy also said that the Pahang4Palestine fund, which was launched on Oct 28 last year, had successfully collected donations of RM1.5 million in a period of almost seven months.

“Insya-Allah, on May 20, which is next Monday, I will launch the delivery of aid in the form of medicines, blankets and ‘ready-to-eat’ food to Gaza in collaboration with Wisma Putra through the Ops Ihsan programme,” he added. — Bernama