THE government is focusing on efforts to bridge the development gap in four states in the peninsula, namely Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said.

He said effective and swift measures were implemented without sacrificing governance based on the national development plan as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan for the period 2021-2025.

“We will focus on the four states in Peninsular Malaysia, namely Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu and Kelantan, which are still lagging behind and require attention,” he said after officiating at a meeting of the state heads of department and federal agency in Kota Baru today.

“We need to find ways to speed up projects, as it is of no use that we have already approved an allocation of RM2.57 billion if its implementation cannot be carried out efficiently.”

Fadillah hoped that coordination between the State Federal Development Department and the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department would bring about benefits and ensure the whole initiative could be implemented.

“Based on records, Kelantan received the highest development allocation among the four states for 2023. The federal government is always serious about ensuring that development will continue to be implemented regardless of political differences,” he said.

In a separate development, Fadillah said based on the census, as of September 11, Kelantan had the highest total number of household heads of poor and hardcore poor families in the peninsula, at 67,772. – Bernama, October 10, 2023.