GUA MUSANG, July 23 — The people of Kelantan need to rise up and make changes to enable the state to continue to develop and progress, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the Kelantan government was currently unable to develop the state without the help of the federal government.

"Ultimately the people will decide. The people have to wake up and demand this change.

"The Kelantan government cannot afford it, there has to be support from the federal government. I’m telling you the truth, this is not an arrogant statement. The same goes for Perlis, if we don’t help provide allocations, they won’t be able to pay salaries,” he said in his speech at the ‘Sentuhan Kasih Desa’ programme here today.

Also present was Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Therefore, Anwar said close cooperation between the federal government and the state governments was very important to solve various problems faced by the people.

The Prime Minister also affirmed the commitment of the unity government to cooperate with any party in efforts to develop the states, including Kelantan.

"A few months ago, I met with (former finance minister) Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to discuss on the restoration of the country’s economy...he (Tengku Razaleigh) cooperated well,” he said.

Anwar also denied claims that the administration of the unity government was under DAP’s thumb.

"All this while, projects for entrepreneurs, villagers and multi-billion-ringgit programmes for Malays have never been objected by DAP,” he said. — Bernama