Relations with federal government getting better: Mohd Amar

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan government conceded that its relations with the federal government had become better now especially after the massive floods in 2014 with many mutual agreements reached for the benefit of the people.
Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah when making the statement said that he hoped that the relations between the state and the federal governments would speed up the implementation of several development projects in Kelantan, such as the construction of a hospital in Bachok, the Sungai Golok flood mitigation project and the expansion of the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Pengkalan Chepa here.
"There are also several issues that we have to overcome in the spirit of the Federal Constitution such as the issue of oil royalty which is now in the legal process," he said in reply to Azami Md Nor (PAS-Kadok) at the State Assembly sitting here today.
Meanwhile, State Works, Infrastructure, Utilities and Information Technology Committee chairman Datuk Hanifa Ahmad said the process of land reacquisition for the first phase of the 40 km East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) from Pasir Puteh-Bachok-Kota Bharu could be done at any time.
Discussions were ongoing for the second phase from Tunjong to here and to Pengkalan Kubor, Tumpat, involving a distance of 28 km, he said when answering to a question from Abdul Rahman Yunus (PAS-Pasir Tumboh) who queried on the latest development of ECRL.
Hanifa said the first phase would involve 6,000 land owners while the second phase would involve 3,000 land owners.
Answering to a supplementary question from Abdul Rahman, Hanifa said other than ECRL the federal government should prioritise and speed up the construction of the Central Spine Road (CSR) for the benefit of the people.
Meanwhile, when met outside the State Assembly, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (BN-Ayer Lanas) said the ECRL project which would connect Port Klang with Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan would boost the land transportation system and lure investments to the East Coast states.
He said, other than expanding the economy of the East Coast states, the train service would provide many job opportunities for the people due to the developments which were set to take place. – Bernama