IPOH, May 7 — For Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, his biggest achievement since Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the government administration last May is that he is still Perak mentri besar.

He said there were rumours and speculation that the state PH government would fall and he would lose his post within a few days in office.

“There were talks that I would only be a mentri besar for a few days and PH government would fall. This is also mentioned by the Opposition leader in the first and second state assembly seating.

“But, until today, PH is the government and I’m the mentri besar,” he told reporters after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Scanda Sky Charter Airline and Malaysia Airlines Berhad.

Ahmad Faizal also said stabilising the government was another achievement as it was an important factor which was needed in order to develop the state. 

“I’m confident that the civil servants and the PH government has been cooperating well and it allows us to plan the things we wanted to achieve.

“Among the things we wanted to achieve is to attract as much as investors as possible to Perak,” he said.

However, he said the challenges faced to achieve this was due to the previous administration’s problems, where a lot of land in the state is encroached illegally by “corporate squatters”.

“We call these encroachments ‘corporate squatters’ as they set up big farms and plantations on state land and gain profits for many years without providing revenue for the state.

“Therefore, the state government had to set up a special committee to resolve the problem of squatters and the illegal occupation of government land. By solving the problem one by one, it will allow investors to enter the state and create job opportunities,” he said. 

He also said that another achievement fulfilled was constructing 50,000 affordable houses, which is also under the PH state manifesto.

“Thirty-four thousand units have been completed and the balance are in the process of starting,” he said.

Ahmad Faizal also said the PH government managed to change the previous administration deficit’s budget to a RM50 million surplus budget when it closed the books last year.

“It is also a great achievement for us as within half a year, we managed to change the deficit budget tabled by Barisan Nasional into a surplus,” he said.

He added the state government’s focus next year is to increase the state revenue while maintaining a sustainable environment.

“For example, if we want to open more mining it should not be done in the conventional method, but using modern methods which will not harm the environment.

“And also, not depending more on logging for revenue,” he added.