PETALING JAYA, July 22 — Barisan Nasional (BN) has racked up pledges worth over RM330 million in just 10 days of campaigning in Kuala Besut, according to electoral watchdog Bersih today, or about RM19,000 for every voter in the constituency.

This comes even as rivals PAS today questioned the ruling BN’s mega projects announced to ostensibly transform the fishing town into a tourism hub, alluding to efforts by the coalition to enrich its own while masquerading as development for the area.

“Up to last Saturday, as compiled by PAS from media reports, financial promises and allocations by federal and state agencies for the Kuala Besut area have totalled at least RM337,490,750,” the watchdog said in a statement.

“Divided among the 17,679 registered voters, this means a vote in Kuala Besut is worth an unprecedented RM19,089.92 so far, provided that all the election promises are fulfilled.”

Noting that time still remained on the campaign clock, Bersih said the final figure was set to “soar to new heights in Malaysia’s election history.”

Among the projects announced so far are a river dredging project to desilt the estuary of Sungai Besut, a 2km breakwater along the coast, and a project to fix the busted Lowvier dam in Pengkalan Nangka here.

During campaigning last week, Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said also told voters that they must support BN in the July 24 by-election to allow planned development there to continue.

Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was more discreet when he said on July 14 that the apparent timing of the projects was not made with the election in mind.

“If aid is given during elections, it is just a coincidence, like my coming to Kuala Besut, it is the custom of the Malays to bring souvenirs to the host,” he was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.

Today, Bersih slammed the practice of timing development projects for elections to enable the ruling party to tap into taxpayers’ money to generate positive sentiment, saying that such infrastructure projects were the right of all citizens.

“The corrupt practice of vote-fishing by abusing public funds not only violates the level playing field in election, but it also implies ad-hoc development planning driven by political expediency, hence at the expense of other constituencies,” it added.

Kuala Besut is considered an Umno stronghold, as it has won there by over 2,000 votes in the previous two elections. But the party and the larger BN coalition are sparing no effort to ensure that it does not fall into PR’s hands.

BN’s Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman will face local boy from PAS, Azlan Yusof, for the Terengganu state seat in the July 24 by-election which was called following the death of Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar on June 26 from lung cancer.

In Election 2013, Dr Rahman had defeated PAS’s Napisah Ismail with a comfortable 2,434-vote majority. The state seat has 17,679 registered voters, of whom 98 per cent are Malays.