'Every state has its worth' - Ahmad Samsuri

KUALA TERENGGANU - Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar slams Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli's statement, which said Terengganu, one of the states receiving the largest allocation, doesn't have good economic planning.

He said every state has its own role until it forms a nation; even the revenue collected by the nation is obtained from the public and states.

"All members of the public pay taxes; the name or the type of tax did not matter. The revenue from the state is brought to the federal level in the form of what’s agreed upon and not by force.

"Every state has its worth and role because Malaysia is built up of all these states," he said through a Facebook post on Friday.

He added that the list of development projects in all states had gone through a discussion and evaluation process by experts, agencies, and the ministry before it would be listed in the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK-12).

"When we discussed, it meant that the ministries, including the Economy Ministry, had conducted discussions with all state governments.

"It’s not a simple discussion in public. That responsibility is brought together, not by the state alone. Why would the state be belittled? "I don’t want to speak on the figures or percentages, as the ministries should have read the figures and looked at the file names before making such statements," he said.

Ahmad Samsuri questioned the relationship between the central government and the non-harmonious states.

"Can’t we just build a more harmonious relationship by sitting down and discussing, whether in other states or Putrajaya? That’s why there’s a joint list in the Ninth Schedule with the spirit of Federalism strengthening after elections were conducted? "If we can’t do that, our nation can no longer move forward. Bye-bye to the harmony and prosperity that the public dreamt of," he said in the post.

He said the government can no longer punish the public after they’ve chosen those who will be given a mandate to lead the state. Instead, it must ensure the country quickly moves forward.

Rafizi was reported as saying the government would increase the allocation for states in Budget 2024 to ensure it was fair, especially for states that did not have high allocations previously.

He said there were six states to be given priority in each budget, which were Sarawak, Sabah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis, which gained over 50 per cent of development allocations.

However, he said a portion of the states did not have good economic planning.