He said the infrastructure and education assistance as well as welfare aid for fishermen had been planned much earlier when MP Dr Md Farid Md Rafik was still alive.

“In fact, Farid had worked hard to ensure further development in the Tanjung Piai area.

“We are not giving out goodies to win votes as Farid had applied for the assistance earlier,” he told reporters after handing over fish fries and cages at the Kukup International Ferry Terminal near here today.

It was reported that earlier announcements on allocations made by several ministers in Tanjung Piai had drawn criticism from the opposition who claimed the move was to win votes.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had denied that the RM7 million allocation provided for the Tanjung Piai parliamentary constituency was to gain the support of the constituents.

He stressed that the government was just doing its job and that the allocation unintentionally coincided with the date of the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election.