Thesun 2009-07-13 Page02 Manek Urai To Be New Development Area If

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theSun

| MONDAY JULY 13 2009

news without borders

Manek Urai to be new development area if ... KUALA KRAI: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Manek Urai will become a new development area in Kelantan if the Barisan Nasional (BN) wins the constituency’s by-election tomorrow. The offer by the BN government is expected to change the area not only in terms of physical development but also in terms of economic and social well-being of the people who are mostly rubber tappers. “If that (development) is what they want, we are ready to help but they must also be ready to help us,” he told reporters after launching the state-level Teachers’ Day celebration at Sekolah Kebangsaan Manek Urai Baru here yesterday. He said there was no truth in the claims by opposition parties that the people did not care for development. On the contrary, he said, the people he met during the campaign had been asking about development programmes. “This is my fifth time here and I have gone to almost all areas in Manek Urai and I can see that they are still in need of development. “In my meetings with local leaders, they expressed their wish for the federal government to continue carrying out development programmes, improving facilities such as schools, bridges, mosques, surau and implementing economic programmes for the people,” he said. Muhyiddin, who is education minister, said it was clear that the people wanted development, something which the PAS government

Polling tomorrow in Manek Urai Candidates:

» Mohd Fauzi

Abdullah (PAS)

» Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat (BN)

Electorate: 12,293 voters Racial breakdown: 99.2% Malay, 0.46% Chinese, 0.23% Indians, 0.09% Others

2008: Ismail Yaakob (PAS) Zulkepli Omar (BN)

Vote

Majority

5,746 4,394

1,352

was unable to provide. He said that in ceramah organised by PAS, the party would avoid mentioning anything about development as though it was not important. The party did this to hide its weaknesses, said Muhyiddin. “During my visits to the ground, the people I met told me they want development. So I gave them two options. “One is to ask from Tok Guru (PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat). The other, is to ask from me and the federal government. If they really want it, we are ready to help but they must help us to do that,” he said. Meanwhile, PAS said the promises and announcements made by Barisan Nasional (BN) on development projects in Manik Urai will not sway the voters’ support in the by-election tomorrow. Kelantan PAS election director Abdul Fatah Haron said PAS was also scheduled to make an important announcement for the people in Manek Urai tomorrow, but he declined to give any indication. At a press conference held at the Manek Urai PAS headquarters here, he said voters living outside the area had been contacted and they promised that they would return to vote for the party. He said according to PAS intelligence, the support of Manek Urai voters for the party was increasing by the day, but declined to state the percentage when pressed by reporters to do so. “The local issues highlighted by us have managed to win the hearts of the new voters, including the fence-sitters, based on our study,” said Abdul Fatah, who is also Bukit Tuku assemblyman. The Manek Urai state seat by-election will see a straight contest between BN’s Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat, 39, and PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah, 50, following the death of the incumbent assemblyman Ismail Yaakob on May 22. In the last general in 2008, Ismail defeated BN’s Mohamed Zulkifli Omar by a 1,352-vote majority. – Bernama

Fees for motorcycle learners to be shared SEREMBAN: The government and riding schools will together bear the fees for the learning of riding class B2 motorcycles, that is below 250cc, that will be reduced to RM211 beginning Sept 1. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said his ministry had discussed and got agreement from all riding schools on the steps to reduce the learning fees. “In our discussions, they agreed to follow the ruling without charging anything extra,” Ong, who is also MCA president, told reporters after officiating the Negri Sembilan MCA annual general meeting 2009 here. On Saturday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced the lowering of the fees for motorcycle riding courses, including getting the licence, to RM211 as compared with between RM500-RM700 earlier. The announcement was among 11 “people-friendly gifts” to the people in conjunction with Najib’s 100 days in office. The step of reducing the fees was to help those, especially youth with limited money, to get a riding licence. “We hope the reduction, by more than 50%, will help the people,” Ong said. In ALOR STAR, Road Transport Department director-general Datuk Solah Mat Hassan said more than 200,000 people are expected to benefit from the new rate. He said with the new rate, the breakdown for fees charged by driving institutes is RM186 excluding e-service charge of RM21 and government charge of RM4 making the total RM211. “Before this the institutes took RM450 not including e-service charge of RM21 and government charge of RM70 making the total cost to a student RM541,” he told reporters yesterday. The riding training cost includes the KPP (driver’s education curriculum) Class, the pre-L basic training, skills training and the pre-testing. – Bernama

Najib’s 11 people-friendly measures

20% discount for Smart TAG and Touch ’n Go cardholders who pay toll 80 times or more in a month Sale of 44,000 units of public housing to those renting them in Kuala Lumpur

50% discount on the licence renewal fee for hawkers and petty traders in Kuala Lumpur

Increasing taxi permits by 3,000 to be approved over the next three months Drastic measures to reduce crime and fight

corruption

Improving efforts in registering births in Sabah and Sarawak Construction of

additional roads in Sabah and

Sarawak

Upgrading of water and electricity supply in rural areas of Sabah and Sarawak Fee for learning to ride motorcycles in class B2 of 250cc and below to be reduced to

RM211 Allocation for Tekun Nasional to be increased by

RM150 million, with 15 million to be made available to young Indian entrepreneurs Introduction of the Amanah

Saham 1Malaysia

(1Malaysia Unit Trust) with an initial size of 10 billion units