LANGKAWI – Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) have reached an agreement over their Kedah menteri besar candidate if the alliance wins the state election on August 12.
BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, however, said the name would only be announced after the pact managed to secure at least 19 seats to form a simple majority in the state assembly.
“We have reached this agreement but we will not announce it (the candidate)… when we reach the number (of seats required), God willing, we will announce it,” he said when asked to comment on the matter.
Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minister, added he was confident that the youth would come out in droves to vote on August 12, in particular, to vote for candidates from BN-PH.
Meanwhile, Zahid said Langkawi needed to be redeveloped in order to attract more tourists to increase income for the people on the resort island.
He said the ferry service was seen to be among the matters which required immediate attention, as it had a direct impact on the number of tourist arrivals.
“Because the ferry route is muddy, it means that the area is relatively shallow, so in terms of the ferry route, it is restricted except when there is a rise in the water level.
“So, among the efforts that will be made by the federal government is to increase allocations because Langkawi needs to be redeveloped,” he said, adding that the issue would be easily resolved if the state government was aligned with the federal government.
Earlier, while speaking at the Community Development Department’s Smart Village Programme at Taman Nilam, Ayer Hangat here, Zahid said national and international level programmes should be held every month in Langkawi to enable the tourism industry to thrive, which would also have a positive impact on various other industries on the island.
“For Langkawi, we know the main income apart from agriculture is tourism, but not only every two years when there is Lima (Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition), we want there to be domestic tourism in Langkawi as well,” he said.
Also present at the programme were Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Majlis Amanah Rakyat chairman Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki. – Bernama, August 8, 2023
