2018 Budget not mere rhetoric — Ahmad Zahid
BAGAN DATUK: The 2018 Budget tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Friday was not a mere rhetoric, instead it encompassed all segments of social-economy and groups of society in the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the budget clearly proved the government’s concern to develop the rural and remote areas, including Bagan Datuk.
“The isolated and interior areas are not only in Sabah and Sarawak, but they are also found in the peninsula, and Bagan Datuk is among the areas.
“When Bagan Datuk was made the 12th district in Perak, the prime minister also focuses on new districts, especially those in the remote areas, to be developed,” he said in his speech at the ground-breaking ceremony for a bridge project across Sungai Perak to Kampung Sejagop in Perak Tengah here yesterday.
Ahmad Zahid, who is Bagan Datuk MP, said the tabling of the budget by the prime minister was widely covered by the media and well-received by all levels of the society.
“This budget indirectly proves the accusations by individuals who want to see the country bankrupt and are not true.
“How can a country which is bankrupt capable of giving allocation for a bridge construction in Bagan Datuk, worth RM446.9 million,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid thanked Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir for briefing the Perak Sultan, Sultan Nazrin Shah, on the development programme for Bagan Datuk.
“When the bridge construction is completed, I’ll seek an audience with the Sultan for him to officially open the bridge,” he said.
The 1.5 kilometre bridge project, costing RM446.9 million, is expected to be ready in July 2020.
Work on the project started last July. — Bernama