The maiden state budget of Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir for 2010 will be aimed at improving the welfare of Perakians.

zambry abdul kadir interview 200409 09 Zambry ( right ), who took over the helm of the state government in February after the collapse of the 10 month-old Pakatan government, seems oriented towards the welfare of the man in the street in his proposed budget.

He appears to have taken a leaf from Premier Najib Abdul Razak's slogan ‘People first, Performance now' when he prepared the 2010 state budget.

"The 2010 budget that I'm going to table in the sitting next week will be a much better budget than the one in 2009," he said.

His aim for the 2010 state budget appears rather ambitious in that last year's budget was drawn up during the 10-month term of Pakatan which saw several years of deficit run up by the predecessor BN government turning into one boasting a surplus.

Education top priority

He said the 2010 state budget will be oriented towards the people's development and the welfare of Perakians.

Although he could not disclose details before the budget is tabled during the Oct 28 assembly sitting, he did drop hints on what to expect.

The state education system may be given importance, taking into consideration the plight of rural schools, especially agama (Malay religious) schools and the nine private Chinese schools.

Also in the pipeline is the welfare of religious teachers in terms of salary scales to match their teaching hours.

According to him religious teachers seem to get a raw deal salary-wise although they put in long hours.

He was answering Malaysiakini 's question on whether next year will see a defecit or a surplus budget.

Tussle for senatorship

Zambry was speaking to the press after closing the Perak Civil Servants Quality Day for 2009 at the state secretariat yesterday afternoon.

In his speech, he urged the civil service to follow the three ‘Fs' of Field, Feel and Fill (by getting down to the field to address the grouses of the people, feel their need and want of support and fill their aspirations of finding solutions to their problems) in order to improve their service to the public.

r ganesan 130509 On another matter, BN appointed Speaker R Ganesan ( left ) had said on Wednesday that the state government had selected two candidates for senatorship whose names Zambry will announce soon.

However, when asked for their identities, Zambry declined to name them. He said: "Wait for me to make the announcement at the sitting next week."

Those two will face competition from the Pakatan which has also come up with a candidate for the senatorship.

All the proposed names will be tabled at the assembly sitting and BN, with a slim majority of three state seats, is expected to get its two candidates nominated for the posts.

Dark clouds await ex-speaker

On whether Sivakumar will pose a problem if he enters the assembly in the state speaker's robes, Zambry said the security aspects in the assembly will be handled by Ganesan.

sivakumar and zambry at perak state assembly 130509 02 "However, I believe there are some police reports lodged against Sivakumar (for impersonating the Speaker and using official letterheads) which according to our lawyers is criminal in nature and comes under the Penal Code," Zambry said.

On Oct 20, BN assembly secretary Zamari Mohd Ramli had also lodged a police report against Sivakumar ( right) for retaining the official state speaker's robes when he had no authority to do so.

"I shall leave it to the police and the Attorney-General to decide on the course of action to be taken (against Sivakumar)," he said.

This revelation by the menteri besar further strengthens media speculation that Sivakumar may be face police arrest if he is seen to pose a threat to the security of the House.

Zambry urged the 28 Pakatan assemblypersons to obey the law and not cause any problems during the tabling of the state budget.