Deputy Kelantan MB Says the State Needs RM8 Billion to Fix Water Issue Entirely, But Unity Gov’t Says No

The lack of access to clean water in Kelantan continues to be debated, with no immediate solution in sight.

Deputy MB of Kelantan, Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah said that the water issue in Kelantan can be solved, if and only if they had RM8 billion, the total cost that the state needs to solve the issue once and for all.

“The amount is not more than the capacity. It’s the long-term solution to the water issue in Kelantan,” Amar explained.

However, after a thorough discussion with the Unity Government, they only greenlit RM1.7 billion. It’s better than nothing at all but Amar said the amount that was approved by the Unity Government is only sufficient to solve part of the problem, not in its entirety, as reported by Astro Awani.

“By right, we need RM4 billion to RM5 billion immediately before we get the remainder, but they only approved RM1.7 billion.”

The Minister of Economic Affairs of Malaysia, Rafizi Ramli recently revealed that during the special meeting to address the water issue in Kelantan, he realised that RM1 billion is all Kelantan needs to fix the issue.

“They’re asking for more than what they really need.”

According to Rafizi, the Kelantan state government requested a total of 7 water plants for the state, which would cost them RM8 billion. However, Rafizi believes that 1 water plant is enough for the whole state, to which the Kelantan government said,

“We’re just asking.”

During a recent campaign for the state polls, Rafizi said that all these while, Kelantan only needs less than RM2 billion to fix the water issue.

Fellow Malaysians, what do you think of this? Do you think the state needs a whopping RM8 billion to fix the water issue once and for all? 

Also read: Flood Victims in Kelantan Forced to Boil Flood Water to Drink After 3 Days Without Access to Clean Water