KUALA BESUT, July 13 — PAS today accused Barisan Nasional (BN) of perpetuating “politics of poverty”, claiming that the ruling coalition is keeping Kuala Besut folks poor to keep its hold on the community.

According to PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali, the area is deep in poverty, and has remained unchanged since the last Kuala Besut by-election in 1979.

“Poverty has been like an asset to BN, using it so the people’s votes are tied to BN. It’s not good politics,” Mustafa told reporters here.

Mustafa explained that there is still unemployment while income has stayed low among the residents, causing them to be very dependent on financial aid from the federal government.

In the run up to the polls, Putrajaya had promised that it would increase the government’s 1 Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) cash handouts from RM500 gradually to RM1,200 for those earning less than RM3,000 a month.

Mustafa, who hails from Terengganu, claimed that among all the state seats under the Besut constituency, Kuala Besut has been the poorest. The other seats are Kota Putera, Jertih, and Hulu Besut.

He also claimed that Kota Putera is the most developed area compared to Kuala Besut. Kampung Raja, which comes under Kuala Besut, is the administrative capital of the Besut district, and several government buildings are situated there.

To illustrate his claim, Mustafa and PAS colleague Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad showed reporters a photo of dilapidated houses in Kampung Pachakan, which is situated along the Kuala Besut beach towards Kelantan.

Sitting on the border between Terengganu and Kelantan, the quiet fishing town of Kuala Besut has remained relatively underdeveloped despite being a significant tourist entry point to resort islands off Terengganu coast such as Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang.

Fishermen also have been reported complaining of a shallow river mouth caused by silting, forcing most deep-sea fishermen to land their catch in Kelantan’s Tok Bali instead, which is also Kuala Besut’s competitor as a jump-off point for island-hoppers.

PAS vice-president and by-election director Datuk Husam Musa had yesterday offered PAS’s candidate Azlan Yusof as the perfect candidate to ensure that Terengganu’s wealth trickles down to its folks.

Local boy Azlan, popularly known as Che Long, hails from the inland area of Kampung Baharu but spent his school days nearer to the sea, according to the locals.

He will face BN’s Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman for the Terengganu state seat in the July 24 by-election, which was called following the death of BN’s 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.