Kelantan government gets an earful at public dialogue BY IAN MCINTYRE
KOTA BARU: The PAS government received an earful from Kelantanese residing or working outside the state during a dialogue session on development and cleanliness in the state. A student in Terengganu complained about illegal gambling dens in the Pasir Puteh and Bachok districts while an engineer working in Johor Baru voiced his displeasure over dirty surroundings. The annual session at Balai Islam was organised by the Persatuan Anak Kelantan Diperantauan (Perakan). The state was represented by Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and his 10 executive council members. A Kelantanese working in Singapore challenged the state to announce when it would attain developed status. The man, however, received a lashing when he did not know the Mentri Besar's name. Other issues brought up during the Friday night session concerned water supply, delay in settling invoices for projects and poor utilisation of IT. There were praises for the adoption of Kota Baru as an Islamic City but an equal number of criticisms were levelled against the state administration. The association, headed by Kuala Lumpur-based businessman Che Ariffin Mahmood, has about 10,000 members, mostly working outside the state. State Finance Planning committee chairman Husam Musa said the water supply problem in Selangor, Johor and Negri Sembilan was even worse than Kelantan but not reported. On development, he said Kelantan was developing at a pace suitable for its people. "Many development projects are kept confidential as the state knows that if these are made known, certain quarters will sabotage the plans," said Husam. He added that growth could be seen in the opening up of new modern townships, such as the Tundang township. State Local Government committee chairman Takiyuddin Hassan said the police was responsible for acting against gambling dens.//Thestar ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/ZP59lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perakan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
