By DayakDaily Team
HANG TUAH JAYA, Aug 16: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced an additional RM1 million allocation for every parliamentary constituency.
Speaking at the PKR national congress at the Melaka International Trade Centre here today, he said the aid should be channelled to the people regardless of whether their MPs or state governments were politically aligned with him.
At the same time, Anwar, also PKR president, rejected claims that he was withholding development funds from opposition-led states and letting people suffer because of political differences.
“In fact, today, I want to announce that for every parliamentary constituency, I am providing an additional RM1 million directly for the people,” he said in a Free Malaysia Today news report.
Denying claims that his administration had sidelined Perikatan Nasional (PN)-led states, Anwar said some Umno leaders had previously ‘objected’ to allocating funds to those states.
“My friends in Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu have criticised me a lot. Many of my friends in Umno have also criticised me. Those in Umno said to me, ‘Anwar, this is the wrong policy. Why help them?’
“Even though they could see cooperation at the state level, they did not agree with me approving aid for Kelantan, Terengganu, and so on,” he said.
Anwar also said he bore a responsibility to help people experiencing poverty.
“I promised to help them. If their problems have persisted for decades and they are affected by floods every year, I cannot rest easy as prime minister knowing that their states are devastated and their property and villages are destroyed.
“You chose a person called Anwar, and I make decisions to do the right thing. The right thing is to uphold justice for everyone, not simply hand out projects to certain people,” he said. — DayakDaily
