RM100m for Pahang rural areas

3/30/2011 — New Straits Times
The government, through the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC), will allocate another RM100 million to the former areas of the Development Authority of Pahang Tenggara (DARA) and Jengka Regional Development Authority (LKWJ) for 2011-2012.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the allocation comprising RM30 million for this year and RM70 million for next year, would be used for socio-economic community development, infrastructure and maintenance projects, that would benefit the local populace.
“From this year onwards, the projects will be expanded to include traditional villages,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The principal beneficiaries of the allocation are the respective local councils within the areas, namely, Maran, Rompin, Pekan, Bera, Jerantut and Temerloh with a combined population of 659,000 residents.
Last year, ECERDC was entrusted by the Federal Government to collaborate with the Pahang state government, in reviving economic development in the former DARA and LKWJ areas.
DARA and LKWJ were dissolved in 1997 after successfully attaining their objectives of spearheading the region’s development.
Since the dissolution, however, the areas were found to be in need of development and maintenance.
At the end of last year, all 107 projects worth RM49.5 million approved for the areas under the Ninth Malaysia Plan had been implemented.
“The completed projects, including the upgrading of public amenities, have benefited 24,400 residents of 19 villages while the construction and upgrading of roads and the drainage system, about 28,000 residents in 26 villages.”
Najib said the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) had attracted RM38 billion worth of investments as of end February, compared with RM36.5 billion as of end November last year.
He said the key projects in ECER, such as the Agropolitan socio-economic project, Pekan Automotive Park and Gambang Halal Park, were progressing well and ECERDC was intensifying efforts to attract more investors, both local and international, to the region.