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The federal government has been generous in bringing development to Kelantan, and any PAS claims that the government is biased in awarding projects and funds to Kelantan are unfounded, said Parliamentary secretary in the Prime Minister's Department Noh Omar.

"Even though we (Barisan Nasional) did not win in Kelantan, we have been generous in awarding projects and allocating funds for the state," Noh told Parliament today.

"Instead of being grateful, the opposition (government) in Kelantan has chosen to slander the government with unfair and baseless accusations," he added, creating a commotion among MPs from both sides who started to hurl accusations at one another.

When PAS Mustafa @ Hassan Ali, MP for Dungun (Kelantan) stood up to say: "BN must accept the fact that they have lost in Kelantan", another noisy session between government and opposition MPs followed.

Supporting his claim, Noh said that the budget approved for Kelantan in the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000) is RM2.19 billion while the expenditure is RM1.46 billion. This figure is higher than that allocated in the Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995), which is RM1.54 billion; expenditure then amounted to RM1.48 billion.

He was replying to a question from Abdul Fatah Haron, PAS MP for Rantau Panjang (Kelantan) who requested the prime minister to reveal the allocations approved by the federal government for each district in Kelantan for the years 1991 to 1999.

Allocation for Kelantan

1991-99

District
No of projects
Allocation (RM)
Kota Bharu
93
334,634,000
Pasir Mas
51
111,976,000
Gua Musang
72
106,977,971
Jeli
40
90,497,030
Kuala Krai
45
65,994,000
Pasir Puteh
31
65,949,000
Machang
21
57,411,000
Bachok
20
56,578,000
Tanah Merah
39
45,094,010
Tumpat
27
36,051,000
Miscellaneous
168
1,22,79,704
Total
607
2,192,953,715

Noh divulged the number of projects funded last year: in Kota Bharu (93), Pasir Mas (51), Bachok (20), Tumpat (27), Machang (21), Kuala Krai (45), (39), Jeli (40), Pasir Puteh (31) and Gua Musang (972).

He also read out how much money was allocated for each district. Kota Bharu had RM334,634,000; and Pasir Mas, RM111,976,000; Bachok, RM56,578,000; Tumpat, RM36,051,000; Pasir Puteh, RM65,949,000; Machang, RM65,994,000; Tanah Merah, RM45,094,010; Jeli, RM90,497,030; and Gua Musang, RM106,977,971.

"But some of the money has gone into someone's pocket," a voice from the opposition bench was heard saying.

This remark created an uproar, with many MPs standing up to slam the opposition. Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar, BN MP for Larut, demanded the speaker to order the opposition to retract their accusation.

Speaker Zahir Ismail finally requested the MPs to calm down with a word of advice to the opposition not to make unfounded claims.


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