KUALA BESUT The people of Kuala Besut are being kept poor to keep them dependent on aid from the BN government, said PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali.

He said he was the PAS election director the last time the constituency had its by-election in 1979. Since then, little has changed.

“The roads may have improved somewhat, and so have the bridges. However, in terms of the community’s economic position, I don’t see any change especially for the fishing community. Unemployment is high and poverty rate is high.

“Because of this, the dependency on aid is high and therefore the politics of poverty is ongoing in Kuala Besut right now.

kuala besut 130713 mustaffa ali “It is as if poverty has become a BN asset to use such that the people are under BN. It is not a good politics,” Mustafa ( right in photo ) told a press conference today.

He added that of the four state constituencies under the Besut parliamentary constituency, Kuala Besut is the most sidelined.

He said a PAS victory at Kuala Besut would jolt BN into realising that it has neglected the constituency for far too long.

However when asked for the figures, he said he was unable to do so off-hand and would have to disclose it on another occasion.

When it was pointed out that PAS had won the Kuala Besut and enough other constituencies to form the Terengganu government, Mustafa said it had given out land in Tok Saboh and Pulau Perhentian.

"But when BN returned they took it back, because in land issues, there is a temporary occupation licence whereby the house must be built on it within two years.

"We have given those out and when they (BN) came back, they took it back. We build; they destroy," he said.