‘WE ARE WORKING DAY AND NIGHT TO FULFIL PLEDGES’
Now that GE14 is done and dusted and PH approaches its 100 days in power in Perak, New Straits Times Press journalists SHAMSUL KAMAL AMARUDIN and ZAHRATULHAYAT MAT ARIF spoke to Perak MB Ahmad Faizal Azumu, who revealed his hopes and vision for the state
We will also introduce health and food cards, which will be similar to debit cards with money deposited into them. Perak folk can use them at private clinics and to buy daily essentials. This will be given to target groups. This will facilitate the purchase of essentials, such as rice, cooking oil and sugar. affordable housing scheme. I announced yesterday (Thursday) that a government-linked company has signed an agreement with a private company to build houses with a floor size of 360sq m for under RM100,000.
It is not easy to do. In the past, a 225sq m house will come with a RM149,000 price tag, but now we can build a house bigger than that at a lower price with a (front) porch.
In the future, my target is to build affordable housing, which is capped at RM100,000. I see this as doable. We must work with the private sector.
The PH government is a government that is friendly with the private sector, and we can develop housing projects which prioritises affordable and low-cost housing.
Besides that, we will continue implementing Skim Bantuan Khas IPT Anak Perak (Perak Higher Education Special Aid Scheme) and the Menteri Besar Scholarship for children in the state.
The previous administration did this, but we want to increase (the number of recipients). We will do this as we must continue good policies and add value by increasing the number of recipients.
We are boosting recognition of the state opposition leader at the State Legislative Assembly by providing a special office, a vehicle with a driver and a salary allocation for an officer.
This is something new in Perak. After I took the oath as menteri besar at Istana Iskandariah, former menteri besar Datuk Seri Dr Zamby Abd Kadir and I were summoned for an audience with Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah and we agreed to upgrade the position of the state opposition leader. This was never done before in the State Legislative Assembly.
We will also table an audit report of government-linked companies’ subsidiaries at the state assembly. There are problematic GLCs. Some GLCs have not been audited since 2012, so some audit reports may not be tabled in the upcoming state assembly session.
These were not U-turns, but corrections. Previously, I announced there would be a 10 per cent discount on water bills and after I made the official announcement, many said it was not a wise move. I had to be brave enough to admit that I made a mistake, and I must say this as it is my responsibility to the people.
Imagine if we give a 10 per cent discount for the (water) bill, some will say that it is too little for the people as it will mean they will save between RM1 and RM2 and it will not encourage people to save water.
It could have caused wastage and, in turn, have grave implications of up to RM8 million incurred by the Perak Water Board.
That RM8 million could have been used to reduce non-revenue water, which would increase the revenue of the Perak Water Board. Those funds could be channelled to infrastructure projects for the people or welfare programmes.
Can you imagine the amount of subsidies that we (the state government) have to pay if discounts