Umno tells Galas voters not to expect instant projects

KOTA BARU: The Barisan Nasional (BN) will refrain from promising "instant" projects during the campaign for the Galas state by-election on Nov 4, Kelantan Umno liaison chief Mustapa Mohamed said today.

"We will not promise instant projects during the election campaign this time," he told reporters at the launch of a pre-university programme and the close of a "1 Programme 1 District" event at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), here.

The campaign for the by-election will begin after nomination on Oct 26. The Galas seat fell vacant following the death of the PAS assemblyman, Che Hashim Sulaima, 46, on Sept 27.

Mustapa, who is International Trade and Industry Minister, was responding to a question on the request by the Gua Musang Wanita Umno for the government to build a public university in Gua Musang.

He said the federal government had no plans to build the university even if the BN captured the Galas seat.

The government would give preference to raising the quality of education than build more institutions of higher learning, he said, adding that the 20 public universities in the country were deemed to be enough to accommodate student demand.

"For the moment, we do not plan to build more universities, including in Gua Musang," he said. Gua Musang is the parliamentary constituency which encompasses Galas and two other state constituencies, namely Nenggeri and Paloh.

Manik Urai promises delivered
On the allegation by PAS that the BN government had failed to fulfill the promises it had made during the campaign for the Manik Urai state by-election 14 months ago, Mustapa said all the four promised projects had been completed or were being implemented.

These were repairs to a public housing project for the poor at a cost of RM1.5 million and the construction of the Manik Urai bridge at a cost of RM8 million, a sports arena in Kampung Manjor at a cost of RM300,000 and the Temalir Mosque at a cost of RM600,000.

"In fact, Kelantan Selatan Development Authority (Kesedar) chairman Mohamed Arshad Ismail confirmed two days ago that the housing repair project for the poor in Manik Urai was completed four months after the by-election, which was held in July last year.

PAS retained the Manik Urai state seat by a reduced 65-vote majority in the by-election.

Mustapa said PAS would fall into its own trap if it attempted to raise the issue of unfulfilled BN projects during the Galas by-election campaign.

He also said that BN promises were contained in statements made by the prime minister and deputy prime minister and not those made by local Umno and community leaders.

- Bernama