Perak MB Saarani describes first 100 days in office as marathon race

"If we learn about management, definitely we know how we want to administer (a state) with limited resources and not get into debt.

"Although we have limited resources, we can still pay salaries and approve small projects, meaning it's a success.

"For me, the measure of my success in the first 100 days is akin to the 100-metre race, where you have to sprint and, at the end of it, you will be gasping for breath and you will be fatigued. Governing the state is like a marathon for me... have to run continuously and have to know where to go fast and where to slow down," he said.

He said this at a media conference during the Menteri Besar Bersama Rakyat (Mesra) programme in Kampung Bogor, Bersia, near here, today.

Saarani, 51, the Kota Tampan state assemblyman, took his oath of office before the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah at Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar on Dec 10, 2020.

Meanwhile, Saarani, who is also the Perak UMNO liaison committee chairman, said allegations that UMNO had made a deal with DAP for the non-Islamic Religious Bureau to be dissolved and that as a reward each DAP state assemblyman would be given an allocation of RM200,000 were untrue and baseless.

"It is not true at all. Allocations give to state assemblymen like from DAP and others are meant for them to carry out their responsibilities towards the people in their areas.

"We must understand that all state assemblymen, be it from the government or the opposition, will need funding," he said.

Saarani was commenting on a message, which had gone viral on social media, regarding an allegation that Perak DAP leaders had betrayed the Chinese community by supposedly making a deal with UMNO to dissolve the non-Islamic Affairs portfolio in the state in return for RM200,000 allocation to each DAP state assemblyman.

While tabling the state's 2021 Budget last December, Saarani announced an allocation of RM200,000 to each of the 59 state assemblymen in Perak.

Meanwhile, in a separate event, Saarani said the state government would set up a group agriculture plan (RPB) in a 222-hectare area for the planting of various crops in Kampung Bongor, near Bersia.

He had earlier hosted an event at Sekolah Pondok Kholidiyah Jalan Refflesia in conjunction with the Mesra programme in Kampung Bongor, where he handed over land title deeds to 51 level-4 setlers at Felda Bersia.