KUANTAN: The Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, has called on the state's elite enforcement unit to carry out their duties without fear or favour to curb encroachment into government lands.
He hoped the unit would play a more proactive role in strengthening enforcement action by conducting preventive patrol activities, investigations and gathering information in connection with illegal land encroachments.
"I hope they will not be afraid and will continue to proactively strengthen law enforcement actions concerning government land encroachments," he said in his speech when opening the third term of the 15th state legislature assembly sitting at Wisma Sri Pahang here today.
Al-Sultan Abdullah also lauded the state government's efforts in tackling revenue collection leakages resulting from the theft of natural resources and government land encroachment activities.
"I was informed that the state administration no longer imposes a compound against those who encroach on government land but instead haul offenders directly to court.
"Well done and congratulations on this decisive action.
"I am proud of the efforts of my (Pahang) government that has adopted a serious approach to overcome the leakages.
"Last year, RM2.7 million in compounds and fines were collected compared with RM1.5 million collected in 2022, while 15 cases were brought to court (last year)," he said.
The Pahang ruler urged all parties to respect the Kuantan High Court's decision concerning the judicial review application by Musang King durian farmers in Raub over an eviction notice on April 24.
On April 24, Justice Radzi Harun dismissed the farmers' application to initiate judicial review proceedings against an eviction notice served by the Pahang government in 2020.
Al-Sultan Abdullah also congratulated the state administration under the leadership of Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail for successfully surpassing the RM1 billion mark in revenue collection for two consecutive years.
He said last year the state government obtained RM1.306 billion in revenue from various sources with the largest contribution being the land revenue collection.
"This year, the state government has set a target of RM1.137 billion in revenue collection and until April 30, the state government had successfully collected RM298.108 million.
"I hope the government will further strengthen its commitment to boost productivity and that it will not only maintain the revenue collection performance this year but surpass the target.
"The state's administration had also successfully reduced its debt from RM3.31 billion to RM993.62 million within five years. I want the state government to intensify efforts to further reduce the debt amount," he said.
Meanwhile, Al-Sultan Abdullah said Pahang attracted foreign and domestic investments totalling RM11.66 billion last year. The ruler hoped there would be more focus on efforts to reduce bureaucracy to attract more investors.
"I decree that all red tape that causes delays in the application process, whether at the state or federal government level, should be scrapped.
"This will help make Pahang an investor-friendly state to improve the level of competence and efficiency of all government departments and agencies," he said.