CHUKAI: Felda settlers here have high hopes that the Kemaman by-election can change the “fate” of dilapidated facilities and infrastructures in six Felda parliamentary areas which have mostly been abandoned in the past few years.
Felda Neram Satu head Abd Aziz Ibrahim claimed that since there was a change in the state government, facilities provided by the previous government, which were supposed to be under the supervision of district councils, such as the community hall in his area have been abandoned and not properly maintained by the authorities.
“I see that the ruling party now in Terengganu is unable to fulfil many of its duties and responsibilities, especially in my area, with the hall and many facilities left abandoned so much so we have to take the initiative to clean up these abandoned areas.
“This never happened before. The hall (and) mosques were taken care of and full of activities,” he told Bernama.
The Kemaman district, which is located south of Terengganu, has six Felda land areas, with a total of almost 20,000 voters out of the 141,790 voters eligible to cast their ballots in the by-election.
Meanwhile, another settler, 73-year-old Muhammad Jusoh, who has lived in Felda Neram Satu since the 1970s, also admitted that this only happened to facilities under the supervision of the district council while facilities under the maintenance of Felda are well managed.
“Since I stayed here permanently, many facilities have been provided over the years. The state government now only needs to assist (in maintaining them). But that hasn’t happened,” he said.
Muhammad Rajmir Ramli, 50, meanwhile, hopes the new Kemaman Member of Parliament will establish a health clinic and a police station for the benefit of the settlers.
“Right now, there is no health clinic or even a police station. For example, if there is a death, the nearest police station for us to lodge a report is 15 kilometres away,” he said.
Felda chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the Kemaman by-election is an opportunity for the settlers to elect a representative who can give his full focus to the voters in the area.
“If the one elected cannot give his full attention due to his other duties, I feel that it will make it more difficult for him to fulfil the needs of the Felda community.
“Not everything can be resolved by Felda, but a good elected representative will find ways to do just that,” he said when met.
Shabery said other major issues, especially those related to housing and employment for the new generation of Felda settlers could only be resolved if there is a good relationship between the elected representative and the Federal government.
The Kemaman by-election will see a direct fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, former Chief of Defence Force Gen (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor and Terengganu Menter Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar of PAS.
The Election Commission (EC) has set Tuesday (Nov 28) for early voting and Dec 2 as polling day for the Kemaman by-election, which needs to be held following the decision of the Terengganu Election Court on Sept 26 to nullify the victory of PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid in the 15th general election (GE15).–Bernama
