adminAYER MOLEK: Two new faces are the bets of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the fight for the Ayer Molek State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seat on November 14.
BN candidate, Datuk Mohd Ridhwan Mohd Ali wants to defend the party’s traditional stronghold, while PH candidate, Muhammad Hakimin Mokhtar, is trying to capture a seat that the coalition has never won.
Mohd Ridhwan is putting his experience working with government agencies to work to help solve the problems of the residents more effectively.
“Experience having been in government agencies and working with other agencies, understanding the system of how the government operates and where complaints should be taken and who we should meet,” he said.
Hakimin, on the other hand, sees Ayer Molek as having development potential that can still be explored, although he admits that competition in the area is not easy.
“I chose Ayer Molek because I wanted a new challenge. If we look at its location, it is close to the city, but its development is not on par with the surrounding areas,” he said.
In the 2021 general election, BN won the seat through Datuk Rahmad Mariman with a majority of 2,802 votes. The number of voters has now increased to 24,614 compared to 17,863 in the last election.
Religious schools, mosques attract attention from residents
The increase in housing areas in Ayer Molek has increased the need for religious education facilities and mosques, especially in Kampung Paya Dalam.
The chairman of the Kampung Paya Dalam Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK), Umros Mariman, said that the lack of classrooms meant that some religious school students had to board at a nearby national school.
“The land is already available, there is no problem with the land, we are just applying for a building allocation. The existing building is not sufficient, the students have to board at Sekolah Kebangsaan Paya Dalam for the afternoon,” he said.
Residents also hope that the construction of a new mosque will be expedited because existing facilities are increasingly limited to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers.
Commenting on the matter, Mohd Ridhwan said that efforts to upgrade religious schools require negotiations with relevant parties, including taking into account state government allocation constraints.
“If given the mandate, I will help us negotiate the best way to resolve the issue of upgrading or new construction,” he said.
Hakimin, on the other hand, proposed the construction of new schools and mosques to meet the needs of the growing population.
“I will try my best to apply under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim… If given the opportunity, add about two mosques and maybe add one primary school, one secondary school,” he said.
-Agency
