The Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah today expressed regret that certain groups were not appreciating the contribution and sacrifice made by the state government and all those involved in assisting the flood victims in the state.     

He said all employees of the state and federal governments, voluntary bodies and others had cooperated and worked together to assist the victims regardless of religion, race and political affiliations.     

"The cooperation, sacrifice and assistance rendered by everyone reflected the strong spirit of solidarity and brotherhood among the people of various races in facing disasters.     

"We sympathise with the 60,240 people who became victims of the flood this time and feel sad at the loss of property, crops, animals and public amenities suffered by the flood victims.     

"However, I'm sad that there are groups who do not appreciate the contribution and sacrifice made by my government and everyone involved in helping the flood victims," he said at the official opening of the State Legislative Assembly sitting at Wisma Darul Aman, Alor Setar today.      

He also called on all the state and federal government departments, and subsidiary companies of the state government to cooperate in implementing projects that had been planned in a transparent and proper manner.     

Sultan Abdul Halim also said that a monitoring body to gauge the level of implementation of the projects should be set up, and at the same time, the people should be given an opportunity to lodge complaints and express their views so that the projects that had been planned would enable the people to enjoy quality life in future.     

He said the performance of the Kedah state government in wooing foreign investment had been encouraging with a total of RM1.8 billion investment being recorded in the manufacturing sector between January and July this year.     

- Bernama