ROSNAH Hamid was just turning 20 when PAS took over Terengganu in 1999, and the experience of those five years under the party’s rule has left a bad taste in her mouth.

“They were okay when they abolished the toll on the Tengku Mizan bridge (in Kuala Terengganu), but other than that, things just got chaotic,” said the now 41-year-old kuih seller.

Past reports said, among other things, that the state government shuttered federal government-run kindergartens called KEMAS and congregations in mosques were split along party lines.

The memory of those five years lingers in the minds of Terengganu folk met by Malaysia Decides. It is one reason the east coast state was recaptured by Barisan Nasional in 2004, and has remained under the coalition’s rule ever since.

The other reason is that successive BN governments have rolled out a slew of programmes funded by profits from the state’s oil and gas industry, which have proven to be popular among the rural poor.

These include annual aid for single mothers, the disabled and senior citizens, free tuition classes for children from low-income families, and a scheme to repair dilapidated wooden houses.

Media reports said last year, the state started a programme to give out parcels of government-owned land to couples earning below RM3,500 and those who did not own property.

Last month, about 110,000 low-income households received 20 cubic metres of treated water.

“Besides the aid for single mothers, they have also given out RM3,000 in start-up capital for them to start small food businesses,” said Mohd Ali Zakaria of Kuala Berang, Hulu Terengganu.

“The (assemblyman) here is also quite popular with village folk. He has no protocol and often shows up at kenduri,” said another Kuala Berang resident, 32-year-old Hamdan Mohd Tahir.

While BN retained Terengganu following its 2004 victory in the 2008 and 2013 general elections, the latter two elections saw increased support for opposition parties.

In the 2013 polls, BN won 17 out of 32 state seats. In 2008, it won 24.

Caretaker menteri besar Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman said the popularity of the state’s programmes is such that even the state PAS copied and offered them in its GE14 manifesto.

“Their offers of free water, free land and houses have all been carried out by us. Their manifesto is filled with things we have implemented,” he told Malaysia Decides.

“I think the people can decide, between their manifesto and what we have delivered.” – May 3, 2018.