The maiden budget tabled by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Parliament today has been described by the opposition as a 'goodies budget' which fell short in certain key areas.

"This is a goodies budget as it offered a lot of incentives to various sectors. We support that. But we also want to see real infrastructure changes," said Kamarudin Jaffar (PAS-Tumpat).

"Kelantan has been once again neglected in this budget. The government will upgrade the Kuala Terengganu airport but it is widely known that the Kota Baru airport needed a runway expansion a long time ago," he lamented.

The Barisan Nasional ruling coalition wrest control of the Terengganu state government from PAS in the March general election, while the Islamic opposition party held on to Kelantan with a tissue-thin majority.

Kamarudin - who lead the seven PAS representatives in Parliament - said he was puzzled as to why the issue of Malay reserve land was not addressed more comprehensively in the budget.

Last month, the government announced that Malay reserve land could now be leased by non-Malays for up to 60 years.

On the special monthly RM450 allowances for the imam (religious leader) in mosques, he welcomed the move but said it should have been done earlier.

"In view of this new allowances to the imam, the government should also reinstate the allowances to the Sekolah Agama Rakyat (private religious schools)," he added.

The PAS leader also expressed concern over the government's eighth straight budget deficit, which is expected to be 3.8 percent in 2005.

"It was worrying despite that the deficit has gone down," Kamarudin told reporters.

On the same note, parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) has pointed out that the 2005 budget failed to set a target in achieving a balanced budget.

"Unlike last year's budget, where it mentioned that the original plan for a balanced budget by 2005 had been revised to 2006, this year's budget made no mention about the target, so this could now be an open-ended question," he said.

He said that the 2005 budget was "insufficient, imbalanced and not comprehensive enough".

The veteran politician said he couldn't see much difference between Abdullah's first budget and those previously presented by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who stepped down last October after 22 years in power.

"The tabling of budget reminds me of five years ago, where you hear the prime minister, who is also the finance minister, presenting a rosy picture on the economy.

"But very soon, you see the reality and those who praised the budget sky high will also very quickly forget those rosy reactions," the opposition leader said.

Mustafa: Good foundation

Meanwhile, Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the 2005 budget will be a big boost for the agriculture sector and described it as a 'people-friendly' budget.

"I congratulated and thanked him (Abdullah) on behalf of people in the rural area, especially the farmers. This is a people-friendly budget and it has taken into consideration the interests of the man on the street," he told reporters at the Parliament's lobby.

The minister said the various agriculture incentives will make the sector more competitive, modern and progressive.

"It will draw many people into the agriculture sector, especially the private sector, because a lot of incentives, rebates and tax relief on machinery and equipments are being provided for," he stressed.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mustapa Mohamed - who oversees the economic planning unit - said Abdullah's first budget laid a good foundation for the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Next year marks the final year of the Eighth Malaysia Plan.

"The 2005 budget did not contain too much radical changes and has a continuance (from past budgets). This meant that we continue with what we had been successful," Mustapa said.

Abdullah, who is also finance minister, however did not hold a press conference after his two-hour budget speech, an action which has been described by senior journalists as "unprecedented".

Abdullah's 31-page long budget speech is believed to be the shortest in recent times. Mahathir's 92-page budget speech last year took three hours to deliver, while his speech in 2002 was 79-page long.