Govt committed to solving water woes in all states - PM

The government will strive to solve water woes in states, including those governed by the opposition, to ease the burden of the people.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he had held discussions with various parties, including Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob, in efforts to solve water woes.

“In Nibong Tebal, there are issues related to water, in Kedah there is water issue, in Kelantan there is water issue, and Sabah too has water issues.

“We will try to solve water issues and in Kelantan, I asked the menteri besar and he informed me that the pumps used to draw water are not long enough and what I did was issue a directive to buy the pumps immediately.

“This is not about political alliances, this is about the hardship of the people, we do it to assist the people… Mat Sabu (Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu) has also decided to carry out cloud seeding in Kelantan to induce rain. We are doing it to solve water issues,” he said when opening the Penang Madani National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun) at the Seberang Perai Arena in Seberang Jaya.

Also present were Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Ewon Benedick, Deputy Minister R Ramanan and Tekun Nasional chairperson Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid.

Anwar said that Penang, especially Nibong Tebal, has insufficient water from the river and the government decided to discuss with Perak ruler Sultan Nazrin Shah and Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad to try and solve the problem.

The prime minister said positive results were achieved through the discussions because the government had conducted a study which showed that the Sungai Perak region has an abundance of water resources and more than enough to cater for the state’s needs.

Therefore, excess water can be channelled to Kerian, Perak and onwards to Sungai Acheh, Sungai Bakap, Nibong Tebal, and Batu Kawan areas.

“Finally, we succeeded in approving the project (Projek Air Perak-Pulau Pinang) with an allocation of RM4 billion, for who is this? For the people of Perak and Penang,” he said.

The prime minister added that the Madani government had carried out various initiatives for the people and for good governance and good administration. Therefore, the government under his leadership is different from what some are trying to portray.

Speaking of Tekun Nasional, Anwar said the objective of the agency is to provide simple and quick financing facilities to kick-start and further expand their businesses.

He pledged that if Tekun Nasional continued to show progress through good governance, the allocation for the agency under the Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development Ministry would be increased in the 2025 budget.

- Bernama