ALOR STAR: Kedah Amanah has joined the chorus criticising the Perikatan Nasional state administration for "selling mere dreams" to Kedahans, the latest being the plan to develop a Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system in Langkawi.

Describing the announcement as "shocking", Kedah Amanah chairman Asmirul Anuar Aris hit out at the state administration under Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Noor for its "rhetoric and selling dreams" nature through announcements on mega projects.

"From a political perspective, the Kedah government is akin to promising to build a castle in the sky.

"Those promises are not realistic... they are rhetoric and a sheer waste for the people and the state," he said in a statement today.

The former Kubang Rotan assemblyman said based on his observation, Sanusi has announced various mega projects since assuming power.

These projects, he said, were just to please Sanusi's supporters, who simply accepted them without studying facts and reality.

Asmirul said he agreed with Kedah Umno information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin's statement yesterday that Sanusi likes to "dream to the stars" but the menteri besar's actions are not aligned to his dreams.

"The question that the people wish to know now is what happened to the RM40 billion Widad Langkasuka project in Langkawi announced by Sanusi on March 30, 2021 in Kuala Lumpur that was witnessed by the then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

"What happened to the investors propagated by Sanusi, a company from the Middle East, Bin Zayed and Widad Business Group?

"It seems Bin Zayed company has gone in the wind while the main shareholders of Widad have relinquished their shares in the company," he said.

Hence, said Asmirul, Kedah Amanah is calling on the state government to just focus on the development planning and mega projects that have been announced previously.

"Manage the projects related to water supply woes and the Sungai Petani motorcycle racing circuit which are important to the people," he said.

Asmirul called on Kedahans not to be hoodwinked by the Langkawi LRT project announcement which he claimed may well end up as just another episode of selling a piped dream to cover up the failures of the state government.

On Tuesday, Sanusi and state Industry and Investment, Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman Dr Haim Hilman Abdullah witnessed a MoU signing ceremony between state-owned Permodalan Kedah Bhd (PKB) with South Korea's Royal Eco Train Development (RETD) to study the development of a LRT system in Langkawi.

In response to that, Shaiful had argued that the project would not solve the island's tourism struggles.

Instead, he urged Sanusi to prioritise addressing the root causes of real issues in Langkawi, such as water shortages and the high cost of tourism.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2024/05/1045508/stop-selling-dreams-kedahans-kedah-amanah-chief-tells-sanusi