Metro

Sunday May 11, 2008

Photo slight irks Azizan

By SIRA HABIBU


ALOR STAR: Billboards bearing the photograph of Mentri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak may have to be put up in front of schools.

“Don’t make me resort to putting up the billboards,” Azi-zan said in response to claims that his photographs were not allowed to be displayed in certain buildings that are under the purview of the Education Ministry.

“If this is true, and if there is a report that says my photographs cannot be displayed, I think it is not right (to do that),” he said.

Azizan said if there was a federal “ruling” that elected Pakatan Rakyat leaders’ photographs could not be displayed in federal buildings, then the state could also remove the photograph of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi from the state buildings.

“But we will not resort to that. We do not subscribe to confrontation,” he said this during a dinner with members of the media at Sri Mentaloon on Friday night.

“What sin did the school children commit that they are not allowed to see the photograph of the Mentri Besar?” he asked, arguing that the Pakatan Rakyat gained control of the state through democratic process.

Azizan expressed dissatis- faction over the Federal Govern-ment’s decision to scrap the proposed RM24mil Agropolitan project in Baling.

“When the Tourism Ministry decided to cancel all the MoUs (memorandums of understanding) with the state government, it did not bother us much as it only involved RM2mil.

“But this project was aimed at helping the people in Baling. Why scrap it?” he asked.

Azizan also said that it was shameful that a professor had made a statement that the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government in Kedah would collapse within three months as it would not be able to cope.

“It has been more than two months since we took over, and we are still strong. We have saved the situation (financial setbacks). We can survive.

“With the existing policy, we can strengthen the state’s economic position from next year onwards,” he said.

Azizan also said that the state’s decision to reduce quit rent had proven to be popular.

“People are paying quit rent now. We have collected RM90mil in quit rent in March,” he said, adding that people were not willing to pay before because the rate imposed by the previous administration posed a burden to them.

He also announced that the village head system would be implemented in July.

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