PM Najib wants to bring Malaysia to be amongst 22 top nations
KOTA BHARU, April 11 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has pledged to take Malaysia to be the 22nd nation among the top in the world if Barisan Nasional (BN) is given the mandate to administer the nation again at the 14th General Election (GE14).
Najib said that as a leader he must initiate something that was the best for the people at all times.
"We must do something so that today will be better than yesterday and that tomorrow would be better than today. Insya Allah, under the BN we will carry the nation forward. We don't want to retreat.
"We want to go much further, not one or two years in front. We want to take Malaysia to become a great nation, among the top 22 nations (in the world)," he said in his speech at a friendly gathering with the people of Ketereh at the Kompleks Yayasan Kemiskinan Kelantan (YKK) at Kampung Wakaf Tok Wali, Melor here today.
Also present were International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Jazlan Yaakub, Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and UMNO Ketereh division head Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
Commenting further, Najib, who is also BN chairman, said among the closest example was the efficient management of the economy which was implemented by the government currently.
"Our efficiency in managing our economic resources enabled the income to increase. I tell the officials at the Finance Ministry to look at the books, if the income has increased, we return it to the people.
"I said we can increase the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), and they (the officials) said possible. And they asked (me) to increase by how much? RM200, RM300? I said we don't play with RM300, we increase by RM400," he said.
He said the increase in payment for BR1M was also due to the rise in the price of crude oil to USD69 per barrel compared to USD52 when the 2018 Budget was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat last year.
He also criticised the opposition who made a u-turn when they now agreed to retain BR1M although they had been staunchly against it.
"This is the opposition, ladies and gentlemen. Initially, Tun (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) said BR1M was fodder, like giving chicken feed. After he said fodder, the people became angry with him because the people liked BR1M.
"Subsequently, he made a U-Turn. In the opposition manifesto today, they want to continue with BR1M. Do not copy us. BR1M is a deed from the Barisan (Nasional)," he said.
Meanwhile, Najib also refuted that the Registrar of Societies (RoS) acted on his instruction in the temporary dissolution of the registration of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), but he had been blamed for it.
"Dr Mahathir formed the party according to the UMNO Constitution, but (he) did not want to hold branch and division level meetings, suddenly there was a general assembly.
"Copy the UMNO Constitution but did not comply with and blame the RoS. When did the RoS become my men? The Administrative and Diplomatic Service Officers (PTD) (who are serving in RoS) follow your books," he said.
In another development, Najib said the Federal government would continue with the construction of the East Coast Railway Line (ECRL) project, Central Spine Road and the Gua Musang-Kota Bharu Highway as promised earlier.
He also announced that the government would build a bridge at Kampung Serendah, here to link east and west Kelantan which were divided by Sungai Kelantan.
-- BERNAMA
