How does the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority rate Kedah’s
progress under the Northern Corridor Economic Region during its first year? Datuk Mohamad Othman Zainal Azim (above), its senior vice-president (Infrastructure Division), provides the answers.

Q: The Iskandar Development Region has nearly RM33 billion in confirmed investments, 70 per cent of what it was supposed to achieve within its first five years. How do investments in the NCER compare?

A: NCER is more people-centric. Iskandar is more about foreign investment. They are a neighbour to Singapore and are trying to position themselves as the Dubai of Southeast Asia. We are looking at the grassroots, to increase income and provide sustainable employment and development for the local populace.

The main thrust is to bridge the quite substantial income differential gap between the North and the more developed regions. In the Klang Valley, per capita income is RM15,000 whereas in the North, it's RM3,000. We would rather have projects that benefit our citizens rather than having projects where we would have to bring in imported labour.

Our current thrust is positioning of projects for the hardcore poor in the Northern region and human capital programmes. The hardcore poor have transitional income rather than sustainable or fixed income. We want to provide them with fixed income so their lives could be better managed.
Q: With Kedah under Pakatan Rakyat, will any of the NCER projects be reduced or postponed?

A: The Kedah state government was very receptive and supportive of the projects. They even offered us assistance should we need their help to expedite the projects. Projects under the Mid-Term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan have been approved by the Federal government. Kedah does represent the bulk of the rice-growing capacity of our nation. It stands to reason that major investments are made in this area.

We want to strengthen irrigation canals, water pumping and flood mitigation. We have RM0.5 billion for all of this. We also want to upgrade industrial parks such as the one in Sungai Petani.

Q: The NCER masterplan was due to be completed in January, integrating existing and new projects with Ninth Malaysia Plan projects. At what stage is it?

A: The NCIA masterplan has already been completed. The blueprint on the Northern corridor is already available for the public at www.ncer.com.my.

The next step was for NCIA to prepare the Development Plan. We have completed this and are in the midst of fine tuning it, as approved by the NCER Board, with the four states involved before publishing it.