In ‘battleground’ Gombak, Amirudin Shari promises voters affordable homes, respectable jobs, well-oiled infrastructure, and more
GOMBAK, Nov 10 — Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) challenger seeking to unseat Gombak incumbent Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali this November 19, made five commitments to voters in the urban Selangor seat today.
They are: affordable house ownership; sustainable, comfortable, and long-lasting infrastructure; education and respectable jobs as the key to meeting high living standards; and a greater and more equitable role of the state government in developing the state.
“Gombak has become a battleground between the Malaysia of the past and a Malaysia that is fair and dynamic across the sectors of the economy, education, as well as a community of diverse ethnic backgrounds with vision, and it has become the epicentre of GE15,” the challenger said in a public declaration of his personal manifesto for the constituency.
Amirudin who is also Selangor mentri besar said these five items will be carried out over the five-year term if he is elected as Gombak MP.
In order to develop the local economy within Gombak, he said he wished to empower women as entrepreneurs by providing them with training so that they can achieve higher household incomes.
He also hopes to build rest and service areas (R&Rs) to support the e-hailing industry which will be complete with rest facilities, wifi, smartphone charging areas, bathrooms, and prayer rooms.
He also wants to encourage technological agricultural efforts as a way to ensure food security so that the people of Gombak are able to meet their essential needs.
As for affordable house ownership, he hopes to provide 1,660 housing units at Pangsapuri Bayu Residensi in Seri Temenggung and to work towards strata ownership in AU1, AU2 and surrounding areas of Hulu Kelang.
In working towards providing infrastructure, he wants to provide Gombak residents with sports complexes that provide mini-stadium facilities and futsal sites so that the area can be developed as a hub for Malaysian youths.
He also committed efforts towards a senior citizen complex which will be provided with recreational facilities for the elderly and children through cooperation between the government and private sectors.
The provision of structured and organised infrastructure is also important, he said, especially in traditional areas involving land use issues so as to provide micro business opportunities.
He added that clinics and public health facilities will be upgraded to ensure the comfort and health of the people of Gombak.
Besides that, he would like to ensure educational and job opportunities for Gombak residents by lowering the rate of unemployment, increasing financial security and preserving their mental health.
He will also provide 10,000 laptops and tablets to the people of Gombak to aid them in efforts related to education and entrepreneurship, which will be handed out at a rate of 2,000 per year over the five years.
Finally, he said that the role of the state government needs to be more equitable in order to develop states further particularly when it comes to healthcare, education, public transportation and tax distribution.
“We contribute 24.8 per cent, almost 25 per cent, but what comes back to us in the state before this from the federal government is not even 10 per cent.
“From the entire economy of the country, we get around 5 to 6 per cent,” he said, referring to the contribution of the federal government to states.
If Selangor could receive more funding, he said that there were many more details that could be improved and fine-tuned.
Amirudin is facing a facing a four-cornered fight for the Gombak parliamentary seat this GE15 against Azmin, Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin, Gerakan Tanah Air’s Aziz Jamaludin Mohd Tahir and independent candidate Zulkifli Ahmad.
