He said that in such a situation, the government was compelled to take the necessary austerity measures, including cutting this year’s national budget.

“Hence, the allocation for Perlis approved under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) might be reduced and the Chuping Valley development plan may not be implemented fully.

“The government does not shirk its responsibilities, but is just making appropriate changes due to reduced national income, besides bringing the effects of the economic slump to a minimum level,” he said.

Azlan was speaking at a state leaders’ dinner function with the heads of federal and state departments and agencies at Dewan Residensi, here, last night.

He said the Federal Government had approved an allocation of RM2.75 billion for Perlis under the 11MP, out of which RM854 million was for developing Chuping Valley into a high-impact green technology industrial park.

“I hope we can work closely to make the state’s development agenda a smooth process and a success.”

The menteri besar said that under the 11MP, the state government was to focus on high-impact mega projects, which could provide a lot of jobs and income in the long run.

He also urged every government department and agency to be proactive in responding to any complaints from the public to prevent certain quarters from taking advantage of opportunities to serve their own interests.

Azlan said a WhatsApp group created had received the most number of complaints on water, but Syarikat Air Perlis (SAPs) had effectively solved 98 per cent of the complaints.

“However, the issue continues to arise as we failed to answer the complaints that were uploaded onto Facebook, hence the public is unaware of this.

“I found that certain individuals had taken advantage of this by providing the latest information and got the credit for it, while we have been doing the job,” he lamented.

– BERNAMA