Anwar said these issues should be dealt with promptly to overcome prolonged hardship faced by those in the state.

“The federal government has never neglected to assist any state government,” Bernama quoted him as saying at a Madani Hari Raya open house in Kota Bharu.

Anwar had earlier announced that Putrajaya had agreed to allocate RM20 million for tube wells to improve water supply to households and for farming in Kelantan.

PAS-led Kelantan is among the six poorest states in the country. In February, Kosmo reported that the number of households that fell under the hardcore poor category increased to 14,000 from 9,000.

Anwar said the federal government agreed with the Kelantan government’s proposal to extend the runway at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport (LTSIP) by 400 metres for it to become an international airport.

This would enable haj pilgrims to fly directly from Kota Bharu to Jeddah, he said.

Anwar said he had asked transport minister Loke Siew Fook to expedite the ongoing work at LTSIP.

He had earlier spent some time at LTSIP’s new terminal which began operating yesterday. It can accommodate 1.5 million passengers.

Work on phase two will be carried out immediately to accommodate four million passengers. The LTSIP expansion and upgrading projects cost RM440 million.

Separately, Kelantan menteri besar Nassuruddin Daud thanked Anwar for the equal treatment the east coast state received.

He said the state government was always open to forging good ties with Putrajaya, just as it was practised by the previous leadership.

“Since the time of Tok Guru Nik Aziz (Nik Mat), we have forged good ties with the federal government and this relationship will be continued during my time helming the state,” he said.

Nik Aziz was the Kelantan menteri besar from 1990 to 2013.