Federal grants not withheld from any state: PM

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said the unity government has never withheld any federal grant to any state, including Terengganu, whose allocation has been increased this year.

He said the development allocation for Terengganu has in fact been increased to RM1.59 billion this year, compared with RM1.55 billion in 2023.

“The budget given by the federal government under the unity government to Terengganu is more than that given by the previous government,” he said at the Finance Ministry assembly yesterday.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the government under his leadership has never been “cruel” to Terengganu, with the federal government having disbursed wang ihsan (compassionate funds) to the state based on 2023 petroleum revenue, amounting to RM786 million.

“(Apart from compassionate funds), the federal grant to Terengganu in 2022 was RM399 million. In 2023, we increased it to RM413.64 million and in 2024 there will be more. Is this cruel?”

He said Terengganu has a large number of poor people and because of that, the allocation is channelled directly to the needy in the state without going through MPs.

“The development allocation is more than the compassionate funds, but it is channelled directly to people’s projects.

“If there is an emergency or something urgent, for example erosion in Lake Kenyir, we will continue to allocate funds to speed up the project.”

He also reminded the Implementation and Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department to ensure that the allocation to all constituencies be given, regardless of whether they are under PAS or Bersatu.

“It’s just that we don’t give it through the MPs, we give it to the people. We focus on the poor, the hardcore poor, it doesn’t matter which party they belong to, in which constituency they are, we help regardless of race, religion, constituency or party.” – Bernama