Khalid urges Johoreans to go for change
Khalid delivering his ceramah watched by Johor PKR chairman
Chua Jui Meng and other state PR leaders.
GELANG PATAH (Feb 12, 2013): Selangor Mentri
Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said he was shocked when he took office in March
2008 and found a letter on water tariff hike for the state.
“And
the Syabas CEO’s salary was RM400,000 a month! This can only happen in an
Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
“Where
in the world can you find the CEO of a water concessionaire drawing such a high
salary,” Khalid said in a ceramah in
Kampung Melayu tonight.
Instead
of allowing a water tariff hike, Khalid said he went ahead with Pakatan Rakyat
(PR)’s election promise to provide free water in Selangor to all households for
the first 20 cu/ml of consumption.
“Do
you (Johoreans) get free water? You can if you go for change and dump BN-Umno
in the coming 13th General Election (GE13),” he said to a loud round
applause from the crowd.
The crowd stood their ground despite a
drizzle to hear out Khalid in Kampung Melayu, Gelang Patah.
Khalid
said PR had won the hearts and minds of the rakyat
in March 2008 because “we promise to be a caring government for the people”.
“That
is the reason why the current state government has dismantled all BN policies
that benefited cronies. We love and care for the rakyat, not the rich and super rich Umnoputras and their cronies,”
he added.
Khalid
said Selangor’s coffer was RM400 million when he took over as MB in 2008.
“Today,
our cash reserve is more than RM1.9 billion. That can only be achieved by an
honest administration through prudent spending.
“The
excessiveness of the BN governments is not only uncaring, it’s irresponsible,”
he said, adding the integrity of the PR Selangor government had attracted RM36
billion in investments (Domestic RM14 billion and Foreign Direct Investments
RM22 billion).
He
said another clear example of PR’s caring policy was the outstanding land
issues that had remained unresolved by BN-Umno for 55 years.
“Today,
in Selangor, anyone who had resided on land under TOL for more than 10 years
are entitled to convert it to freehold by paying a standard premium of RM1,000.
“More
than 10,000 people have benefited from this policy,” he added.
Khalid extends a handshake to former PR
Perak Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin after delivering his ceramah. Nizar had arrived just in time to address the crowd.
Khalid
urged Johoreans to go for change in the next national polls for a more secure
future.
“BN-Umno’s
plundering of the nation’s wealth for more than 55 years is enough,” he said.
Khalid
was on a one-day visit to Johor and earlier he delivered his keynote address at
a Johor Land Issue Forum: Problems And Solutions in Li Garden Hotel’s ballroom.
The
forum was attended by about 800 Johoreans.
