S’gor factions focus on pledges, not barbs

SHAH ALAM: The key parties in Selangor have stopped picking on each other and are now emphasising their electoral promises to convince voters.

Barisan Nasional is talking about its election manifesto and core pledges covering welfare, education, housing and community empowerment, including helping the orang asli community to own the land they have settled on.

In an earlier interview, Selangor Barisan deputy chief Datuk Mat Nadzari Ahmad Dahlan said the orang asli had lost a lot due to cultivating land that did not belong to them.

He said the Barisan state government was about to gazette the land when Pakatan Rakyat took over the state administration in 2008.

“Nothing has been done since then and the orang asli have lost a lot.

“Some of them planted rubber trees years ago and it is time for replanting, but they can’t do it as they have no claim over the land,” he added.

Mat Nadzari said one of the first things Barisan would do if they recaptured the state was gazette orang asli land to empower the community.

Orang asli votes could be kingmakers in constituencies such as Kuala Langat and Hulu Selangor.

Pakatan Harapan, meanwhile, is spreading the word about the state’s welfare initiatives implemented by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

Its Klang parliamentary candidate Charles Santiago said the state’s Kasih Ibu Smart Selangor programme gave mothers of lowincome families RM200 worth of groceries every month.

“Mothers are able to obtain extra food with nutritional value for their children,” he said.

He also pointed to the state’s Peduli Sihat programme, where families with RM3,000 or less household income or individuals earning RM1,500 or less were given medical cards which entitled them to free treatment at private clinics.

Selangor PAS election director Roslan Shahir said his party was offering the people of Selangor a corruptionfree administration.

PAS also played a role in programmes implemented by the Selangor government, he added.

“Everything went through the state executive council before implementation and our excos were in the lineup as well,” Roslan said.