JITRA, April 5 — The Federal government will continue to pay attention to development in Kedah besides making efforts to meet the deficiencies in the state for the benefit of the people as a whole, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the efforts were carried out by the Kedah Regional Development Authority (KEDA) under the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW), which is responsible for implementing all projects related to the ministry’s portfolio.
“I take the approach of monitoring the performance not only of the percentage of expenditure that has been spent (but) I (also) study in terms of the effectiveness of the cost of a project… the people must feel it,” he told a media conference at the Santunan Kasih Ramadan event organised by KKDW, here, today.
Also present was Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.
Ahmad Zahid said KKDW’s priority is not just the ministry’s traditional efforts such as providing electricity and water supplies in the interiors and rural infrastructure but also giving attention to human capital development such as TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training).
“We carry out upskilling (and) reskilling to give employment opportunities to targeted children’s groups. We also join the state government in building houses on land either with the cooperation of the government or land bought by Felda itself,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said the compatibility of the relationship between the Kedah and Federal governments must be established and, if there is a gap, efforts to bridge that gap should be done for the benefit of the people.
He said government policies and networks must be reflected from the aspect of collaboration and not just mere rhetorics through political speeches.
“Not just make political speeches but a form of cooperation, that is what I’m implementing and, of course, it’s the policy of the Federal government, as long as the state government (makes) an arrangement with the Federal government, we respect it very much. It means this goes beyond political stance, we put aside political differences,” he said.
Earlier, during his speech, Ahmad Zahid also announced the appointment of UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim as the new KEDA chairman.
About 1,500 guests comprising orphans, students of tahfiz centres, asnaf group and local communities, were given a treat at the event held at Masjid Al-A’la here.
