Pak Lah: Not time yet to call for elections

by Hamdan Raja Abdullah, The Star, Sun 9th Dec 2007
 

MUAR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says there is still a lot more for him to do before calling for a general election.

"As a party leader, I am very happy with the support shown by the people in Muar and I am very satisfied with my visit," said the Prime Minister, after a "meet-the-people" session yesterday.

"However, I still have many things to do and many important projects to complete," he said.

Abdullah, who was on a two-day visit to Johor, said he was also happy with the programmes arranged for his visit to Segamat, Bakri, Pagoh and Muar covering developmental, educational and governmental matters.

He said the crowd, especially at SK Pei Yang in Bakri on Friday night, was among the biggest he ever saw organised by Johor MCA.

He added that besides meeting with the people, he also managed to convey important messages to state leaders and urged them to continue to work hard to eradicate poverty.

Although the number of poor people had dropped from 50% to 5.6% over the past 50 years, he said there were still many poor and hard-core poor in the country.

Earlier, he said he had directed state leaders to give priority to poverty eradication and Johor had done a good job by giving land to those in need.

He said he also wanted them to optimise land usage and plant crops with commercial value, including those used in the herbal industrial sector.

Those who received land should develop the plots jointly for bigger benefits, he added.

"The state has given more than 400ha of land near Sungai Balang and Parit Sakai to those in need and although the plots are between 0.4ha and 08ha in size, they can be commercially developed.

"After they have planted crops, they can also set up factories through co-operative ventures to produce herbal products while their children can work in the factories," he said.