PAHANG Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the state has tightened the processes for the leasing, mortgaging, transferring, and disposing of Malay reserve land to protect the interests and ownership, adding that all applications must be approved by state authorities.

So far 397,619.05 hectares of Malay reserve land have been gazetted in the state, he said.

“To ensure the land area is maintained, any cancellation of Malay reserve land must be approved by the state, with the replacement of a new area to be implemented simultaneously.

“To increase Malay reserve land, all People’s Land Scheme (STR) projects are also gazetted as Malay reserve areas,” he said during the 2023 Pahang Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Seminar 2023 at the Kuantan City Council today.

Wan Rosdy said initiatives to further increase the income and economy of Bumiputera included the implementation of STR with agriculture-based projects.

To close the income gap and reduce unemployment rates, the state has carried out various initiatives, especially in the field of entrepreneurship, which include the I-Push Scheme amounting to RM20 million that was allocated in 2022 and 2023, he said.

He said there is also a quota of 30% for Bumiputera workers to ensure their involvement in the state’s construction industry.

On a separate matter, he said most of the abandoned projects in Pahang were due to the appointed contractors, and the actual underlying cause should be identified.

“For example, in Jelai alone there are 26 sick projects. I was informed that 70 to 80% is due to the contractors. This problem will affect the people,” he said. – Bernama, December 3, 2023.