Malaysian PM Satisfied With National Blue Ocean Strategy

TANJONG SEPAT (Malaysia), Nov 17 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Tun Razak said he was satisfied with the National Blue Ocean Strategy because it had brought about many successes including the more than 40,000 police personnel who can now perform patrol duty. "Following the Blue Ocean strategy, we can place prisoners in certain camps and they can spend the remaining period of their sentence in a more comfortable environment, and they can produce agricultural crops that will benefit them as well as the Armed Forces," he said. He disclosed this during a working visit to the National Blue Ocean Strategy 3 Project at the Orang Asli Settlement, here Wednesday. In addition, the Prime Minister said the Blue Ocean strategy also succeeded in reducing the construction cost for a rural road in Sarawak to only RM50 million (US$1-=RM3.14) by using expertise from the Malaysian Armed Forces compared with RM250 if the construction was done by the Public Works Department. The planting of high-value agricultural crops under the National Blue Ocean programme such as the rock melon was also being carried out on land belonging to the Malaysian Armed Forces in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan, and Sepang in Selangor. He also disclosed that 700 residential units out of 887 houses under the Housing Aid Programme (HAP) contained in the National Blue Ocean Programme was expected to be completed by the year end while the balance would be ready next year. Najib said the houses built under the HAP which he visited Wednesday were more comfortable and strong, and equipped with fans and showers compared with the original houses which were in poor shape. He said with the manpower and expertise contributed by the Malaysian Armed Forces, the houses could be built faster within a duration of two months while there would be a savings of RM10,000 per unit in the construction cost. "With the savings in construction cost, it is hoped that more houses under the HAP can be built," he said. Meanwhile, when asked by reporters on his meeting with the presidents of the Barisan Nasional (National Front) component parties Tuesday night, Najib, who is also the BN chairman, said the meeting was just a normal discussion on current issues and did not touch on allocation of seats for the general election nor was there any message delivered at the meeting. "We can meet any time, the only time I had was Tuesday night because Wednesday afternoon, I have to fly off to Bali. I don't have anymore time, this morning in Sepang. I arrived Tuesday evening, so Tuesday night was the only time I had," he added. Barisan Nasional (National Front; commonly abbreviated as BN) is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 and it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political party since independence. The coalition's headquarters is located in the nation's capital, Kuala Lumpur. -- BERNAMA