Left outside the door of national development by Dr Mahathir, Kelantan is now hoping he will bring development to them

Left outside the door of national development by Dr Mahathir, Kelantan is now hoping he will bring development to them




FLK

Used to do a bit of work in corporate restructuring, corporate `undertaker.

Image credit: The Merdeka Times


When people say what goes around comes around, they mean that if you behave in a bad way, bad things will eventually happen to you, and if you behave in a good way, good things will eventually happen to you.


The memories of older Kelantanese of Dr. Mahathir do not appear to be as positive as elsewhere in the country as they always felt and have a sense that the state was left out of the development of the Mahathir era when he was the Prime Minister for 22 years.


On 30 Aug 2010, the Kelantan government, then led by Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat filed a suit against Petronas claiming unpaid oil royalty since 1998.


The statement of claim goes back to Kelantan’s entry into the federation of Malaya on August 31, 1957.


It was agreed then that the ownership of petroleum won and obtained on-shore or off-shore would remain with the state.


Kelantan’s contention is that Petronas is obliged to make cash payments twice a year for petroleum retrieved off-shore and has unfairly discriminated against the state government by refusing to make cash payments, on the basis that the state government is led by PAS, which is in opposition to BN at federal level while they have been cash payments to Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu which was stopped in 2000 after PAS took control of the state government.


The low point for the Kelantanese was when the federal government led by Mahathir’s successor, Abdullah Badawi placed several advertisements in Malay-language dailies in the year 2009 during a by-election in one of the constituencies in Kelantan stating that Kelantan is not entitled to oil royalty but has been granted 'compassionate' payment of RM20 million.


The suit however was withdrawn in May 2019 after the Federal government which was then led by the Pakatan Harapan coalition with Dr Mahathir as the Prime Minister again, promised and agreed to pay oil royalty to Kelantan.


In Sept 2000, a year after the state fell into the control of PAS in the 1999 state election, Dr Mahathir ordered Petronas to rescind oil royalty payments on the grounds that the federal government didn’t have confidence in the ability of the state government led by Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) to manage the funds.


This led to the Terengganu government filing a suit against Petronas and the federal government over unpaid oil royalty payments amounting to several billion RM.


The suit, however, was withdrawn on March 21, 2012, the reasons for which, however, were not revealed publicly.


If not for its proximity to the oil fields off the coast of Terengganu and Kelantan, the Federal government would not have developed the oil hub in Kemaman and Perwaja in Terengganu.



When the 30-year Vision 2020 was launched in 1991 for Malaysia to become a fully developed nation, Terengganu was ranked No.2, Kedah No. 11, and Kelantan the last in per capita GDP among the states in Malaysia.


30 years later, in 2020, Terengganu had fallen to No. 10, Kedah to No. 13 and Kelantan remained the last of the Malaysian states in per capita GDP.


In January 2020, Dr. Mahathir, the man who launched Vision 2020, interviewed in the Kool Talk segment of Kool FM radio and was quoted to have said although the country did not fully realize the vision, compared to Malaysia of today, 2020, with Malaysia at the time the vision was launched in 1991, the rakyat now are more prosperous, the country is more prosperous and development is evident throughout the country, with better infrastructure.


Using the same yardstick he used for his justification, are the people in Kelantan and Terengganu more prosperous now, and both the states have better infrastructure?

Floods remain a feature to this day in both states.


In recent times it has worsened with a more severe occurrence.


Issues pertaining to potable were making more frequent headlines for the wrong reasons in both states.


And now both states are appointing Dr. Mahathir to advise them on bringing development to both states when he was instrumental in depriving the same states of all the national development programs promoted by him when he was helming the country.


By appointing Dr. Mahathir, PAS has also directly confirmed what Dr. Mahathir said of them in the year 2000 when he ordered Petronas to stop the oil royalties to Terengganu on the grounds that the federal government didn’t have confidence in the ability of the state government led by Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) to manage the funds vis a vis the development of the states?


If Dr. Mahathir did really and miraculously succeed in bringing sustainable development to both states, it would be a bitter-sweet pill for the people of Kelantan and Terengganu.


This person not only deprived both states of their oil dues for 20+ years but also excluded both states from the national development programs over the same period.


When he was the Prime Minister for 22 years, he was the leader for all Malaysians regardless of which state they were from and their race and religion.


So should the people of Kelantan and Terengganu sue him for negligence and abdicating his responsibilities to the people in these 2 states with his past actions thereby depriving them of their rightful place to enjoy the prosperity that Malaysians in other states have been enjoying for the last few decades?


What benefits does each expect from the other with this appointment?


For Dr. Mahathir to see developments brought to both states?


If he could do it, he would have done it when he was leading the country for 22 years and not when he didn’t hold the reins of the country.



One is now rising in prominence politically gaining strengths with every election, be it at the state or at national level.


Another is fading off fast politically.


Both differ significantly in views on economic growth, politics, and ideologies.


Who are they kidding?


They themselves or the ordinary rakyat or their supporters?


This is really what goes around comes around but in a unique way, Malaysian style.