PM Anwar affirms federal govt's obligation in fulfilling state allocations after PAS-led Terengganu accuses Putrajaya of 'cruelty' for oil payment arrears
PUTRAJAYA, March 21 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim reaffirmed today the federal government's stance to fulfilling its obligation in providing federal development allocations for states, after PAS-led Terengganu accused him of being “cruel” for the arrears of oil royalty payment.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said he was compelled to respond to the latest accusations levelled against him, stating that his administration has never withheld any form of allocations for the states including Terengganu.
“In 2023, based on petroleum revenue, a total of RM786 million have been channelled to Terengganu.
Apart from oil royalty payments, Anwar said the federal government has also fulfilled its obligatory federal allocation payment totalling RM413.64 million in 2023, an increase from RM399.12 in 2022.
“Not withstanding that, the federal government has also fulfill it's obligatory allocations for development expenditures in the state totalling RM1.55 billion in 2023 to RM1.59 billion in 2024.
“And yet they are using the word zalim (cruel) for the Madani government as compared to when PAS-Bersatu was in power.
“So, I wished to put on record here that the allocations for Terengganu under the Madani unity government is more than the administrations in the past,” he said in his speech at the Finance Ministry monthly assembly here.
Most recently in Parliament, Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar had criticised the federal government for allegedly still not settling last year's outstanding petroleum royalty payment to Terengganu.
Samsuri, who is Kemaman MP, said he was speaking on behalf of the 1.2 million citizens in Terengganu who are hoping for the “wang ihsan” which the state had received for so long.
However, Anwar today explained that said allocations are channelled directly to the people through government-funded programmes instead of their respective elected representatives, with those targeted comprising the hardcore poor.
Anwar also said his government is always open to any form of discussions and suggestions from the state administration on programmes such as infrastructure improvements and poverty eradication which could be funded through oil royalty payments for the benefit of those residing in the state.
