DUNGUN, July 28 — The Rural and Regional Development Ministry (KKDW) through the Central Terengganu Development Authority (Ketengah) agreed to an additional grant of RM100,000 for Ketengah Youth Association for the purpose of youth development activities in the state.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the amount may be increased depending on the performance of youth in the state election in Terengganu on August 12.

Ahmad Zahid is confident the blue and red wave will change the political tide of Terengganu in this state polls with the support of youth leaders and voters aged between 18 and 30 and 31 to 40 in the state.

"The blue and red wave this time will be a most changing political landscape in Terengganu,” he said when opening the Himpunan Belia Lestari Generasi Unggul (LesGU) in conjunction with "Sentuhan Kasih Desa” at Bandar Al Muktafi Billah Shah here today.

Meanwhile, on the Sentuhan Kasih Desa programme which was attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Ahmad Zahid also announced an allocation of RM250,000 for the Terengganu Malaysia Youth Council (MBM) and RM200,000 for the motoring association in the state,

The organization of the LesGU gathering today, jointly by the Terengganu State Youth Council (MBNT) and Ketengah, is a very good effort to show the efforts of the Madani Government in focusing attention and forming an excellent youth group.

Statistics of the Statistics Department reports that the country’s youth population aged between 15 and 30 years in 2022 is 9.6 million people, which is almost 30 per cent of the total Malaysian population of 32.6 million.

Ahmad Zahid said that as the ministry responsible for the progress and improvement of the well-being of rural communities in a comprehensive and effective manner, KKDW together with other agencies also give special focus to the youth group by intensifying the production of rural and suburban youth economic products through entrepreneurship programmes.

"Young people need to embrace the concept of lifelong learning and be prepared for upskilling, reskilling and cross-skilling of knowledge and skills continuously,” he said.

At the gathering, Ahmad Zahid also shared the third rolling plan projects approved this year involving five projects in Terengganu with an overall value of RM149.3 million.

According to him, the projects comprised the construction of a new road from Bukit Kor to Medan Jaya, Marang with a cost of RM26.3 million and the construction of a road from Kampung Tok Molor To Kampung Gong Pipit, Kuala Terengganu worth RM40 million.

"Apart from that, there is the construction of a road from Kampung Tok Kah to Kampung Bukit Murai, Dungun (RM58 million), upgrading Jalan Tuju and replacement of a bridge at Kampung Tok Nandong, Setiu (RM10 million) and the construction of the rural water supply reticulation system in Terengganu (RM15 million),” he said. — Bernama