KUALA LANGAT, 6 Apr: The people of Selangor have been asked to assess the capabilities and changes brought about by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for the past five years.
According to Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, PR has proven that in the five years of its administration, Selangor has been free from corruption and abuse of power.
In fact, claims by Umno-BN have been proven to be wrong when they said that Selangor will bankrupt under PR’s administration.
“State savings prior to 2008 did not even reach RM500 million. Now, we have more than RM2.6 billion. Administration capabilities are clearly evident. In terms of investment in these five years, it has reached RM50 billion.
“So far, we have also allocated more than RM700 million of state revenues which has been returned to the people through the ‘Localising the Selangor Economy’ (Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor) programmes, which is very different from the previous administration.
“We have carried out the concept of state revenue for the people to give the people the opportunity to enjoy the overflowing prosperity regardless of political ideology,” he said in a speech at the Surau and Religious Primary School construction Thanksgiving Feast here at Kampung Medan.
Abdul Khalid added that under the PR administration, changes have also been brought about for Islamic schools and other religious schools through the channelling of provision of RM6 million per year compared to the administration prior to 2008.
“In the past, even though the state Islamic Religious Department is in charge of the People’s Religious Schools (SRA), they (Umno-BN) did not channel provisions directly to the SRAs. Many children were marginalised.
“Now under PR, we have proven that we do not ignore them. The allowance of teachers of religious schools have been increased from RM700 to RM1,200 per month. Through education, it is clear that many efforts have been undertaken, even applications for admission to religious schools have increased.
“We also do not differentiate education. All types of schools, including Chinese, Tamil and Islamic schools, we have helped because we believe it is through education that will determine the development of the state.
In this regard, he hopes that all the people of the state especially, will choose leaders who prioritise the people and not only campaign about welfare as the election approaches.
“When the time of election comes, choose anyone but do not quarrel. Quarrelling is shameful. There should be maturity. Politics is politics, but do not turn it into enmity. This is not right.
“Show religious responsibility in choosing the right person. There is no need to tear up flags or take down the flag of any party. That way, we can have a peaceful election,” he said.