ALOR STAR: The Kedah state government has set a target to achieve RM1 billion in annual revenue in the next three years by collecting potential incomes that have yet to be tapped.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the RM300 million additional income, as compared to the RM724 million revenue projected for this year, could be realised in stages over the next three years.
"There are many other initiatives that we have not implemented yet. For example, the giant billboards, besides from the fees paid to local governments the state is eligible to impose fees for using our airspace.
"Other states have enforced the fees collection and we will follow suit," he told reporters after attending a monthly gathering with civil servants in Kedah at Wisma Darul Aman here today.
During his speech at the gathering, Sanusi said the state government will mobilise a concerted effort involving all departments and agencies to achieve the RM1 billion annual revenue, in order to fund programmes to fulfil the needs of the people in Kedah.
Commenting further, Sanusi cited fees from the operation of jetties, power grids passing through the state's forests and fibreoptic lines as the other potential revenues.
The bulk of the revenue, he said, would come from non-land revenue to be collected from property owners that had extended their buildings beyond the original size.
"We are talking about properties that have breached the building regulation. Buildings that were built some 20 and 30 years ago but regulations were not enforced by the local governments.
"We are not going to demolish these buildings. We going to legalise the properties but the owners will have to pay fees for the illegal extensions.
"It is within the laws, we are not simply milking money from the property owners. That initiative alone may generate an additional RM300 million for the state but we will have to get things done in stages," he said.
On investment, Sanusi said Kedah has recorded RM21 billion investment for the first nine months of 2023, a jump of 75 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2022.
He said of the total, RM19.38 billion were foreign direct investments while the remaining RM1.4 billion investment were domestic investment.
He added that the achievement was in line with the state government's target of attracting a minimum of RM10 billion investment annually under the Kedah 2035 Masterplan.
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