JAHARA CALLS IT DAY: UNABLE TO MAKE HEADWAY AGAINST GUAN ENG & CO, PENANG OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS WON’T CONTEST IN GE14

SEBERANG PERAI – Penang Opposition leader Datuk Jahara Hamid has said this will be her last term as the Teluk Ayer Tawar assemblyman, as she wants younger candidates to contest in the 14th general election.

The five-term assemblyman has written to her party leaders expressing her wish to make way for other leaders to contest for her seat in the upcoming general election.

“It is time that I retire and give way to younger and more energetic candidates to defend this seat for Barisan Nasional (BN),” she told reporters at an event in Politeknik Seberang Perai today.

The 67-year-old first became an assemblyman in 1995 before she was appointed as the state exco for Youth, Sports, Women, Family and Community Development Comm­ittee from 1999 until 2008.

She continued to defend her seat in 2008 when the then Pakatan Rakyat took over the state administration.  She became the state Opposition leader in 2013.

She said it is time for her to make way for others to defend her constituency but that she will remain as an advisor during the election campaign.

“Even though I won’t be contesting, as the Tasek Gelugor Umno Wanita chief, I will continue to help the chosen candidate to ensure a comfortable win for this constituency,” she said.

She said she has brought development and changes to the Teluk Ayer Tawar constituency in her 24 years of service despite facing some challenges under Pakatan Harapan’s state administration.

“Before 2008, I improved the infrastructure here for the people such as a 200-stall trading space for traders and a RM40 million fishermen’s jetty in Bagan Ajam,” she said.

However, she claimed that phase two of the fishermen’s jetty project to build a cold storage room, an office for the fishermen’s association, a seafood restaurant and a market for the fishermen was scrapped after the new administration took over.

“My plans to build large community halls could not proceed even though I’ve obtained land and allocations because the current state government did not approve it,” she said.

As for talks about her successor having to contest against a candidate from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) for the seat in the coming polls, she said the constituents would know who to vote for.

“The people know all about the DAP state government’s empty promises that they fail to deliver so they will know that PPBM will do the same and vote wisely,” she said.

– Malay Mail