Budget 2016: Johor wants Federal Government help on water, transportation issues

Johor wants the federal government to improve the state's water supply and the transportation systems under the 2016 Budget, said Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said the state government hoped that the focus given to the two matters would benefit the rakyat.

"We hope the federal government would appropriately consider our requests.

"It is important for us to have a long-term plan, especially regarding the water supply," he told reporters after officiating the International Conference on Low Carbon Asia here today.

Mohamed Khaled said other than water supply, the state government also wanted focus be given to improve the public transportation system so that more people would be encouraged to use it.

He said there should be allocations for areas undegoing rapid development, like Pengerang and Mersing, to have public transportation systems to connect with them.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to present Budget 2016 in Parliament on Oct 23.

Mohamed Khaled, who is also chairman of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), said the 4th meeting, which attracted 60 international experts, showed their sincerity to reduce carbon which would bring more benefits.

"The meeting aims to discuss strategic action to reduce carbon which can be taken by Asian countries in their efforts to overcome weather change globally in time to come," he said.

Earlier, the menteri besar witnessed the exchange of memorandum of understanding (M0U) among Malaysia University of Technology (UTM), Ronser Bio-Tech Bhd, Gait Rungkai Sdn Bhd and IRDA.

This will see the university pioneering the building of biogas power plant from food wastes.

The meeting is jointly organised by UTM, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies from Japan and IRDA.