Umno today announced a change in its approach to get more Malays to register as voters in time for the next general election, having identified lack of time and disinterest as the reasons for their not having done so.

Umno vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal said the party would target employees of factories and private companies and such.

"Our focus now is on the 1.9 million Malays who are eligible to register as voters but had not done so," he told reporters after opening the Besut Umno division delegates meeting.

According to the Election Commission, some 4.3 million people in the country are eligible to vote but have not registered as voters.

He said Umno's partners in the BN would also undertake a similar exercise to get many of these people to register as voters.

Shafie, who is Rural and Regional Development Minister, said Terengganu was among the states under the ministry's focus in the construction of houses for the hardcore poor.

"This year, 16,000 houses for the hardcore poor are being built in Terengganu, with 1,400 of them already constructed," he said.

He also said that 44 projects to the tune of RM20 million had been and were being implemented in the Besut district, encompassing roads, electricity and water supply, and social amenities such as bridges.

- Bernama