Dr Norlela wants to stay in Penanti, not Kajang

GEORGE TOWN: Despite being at loggerheads with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng many times, PKR assemblyman Dr Norlela Ariffin (pic) does not want to leave Penang and return to her hometown of Kajang.

She hopes to defend her seat of Penanti on mainland Penang.

She also quashed talk that she might be sent to Kajang, saying that no such decision had been made by the party to move her there.

“I would love to go back to my hometown, but only as a common citizen and not as its assemblyman,” she said yesterday.

She said the re-delineation exercise in Kajang had affected the constituency and she might not be the right person to contest the seat.

Talk is rife that Dr Norlela may be fielded in Kajang, which is held by PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The first-term assemblyman made headlines a number of times when she went head-on with the state administration over issues, such as the Penang undersea tunnel project, land reclamation, floods, pollution and allocations for her constituency.

She pressured for action against an illegal factory in Sungai Lembu, which burned sawdust to produce activated carbon.

She managed to get the factory to be shut down and the subsequent fallout from the issue led to Penang Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh being remanded by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to assist the probe into how the factory could have existed for over 10 years.

She said she was satisfied with the development and upgrading projects that she had brought to her constituency.

“The biggest achievements were the flood mitigation projects and better infrastructure, such as sports facilities and a multipurpose hall.

“My women’s brigade of 98 members is active and concentrates on women empowerment programmes,” she added.

Dr Norlela shared a 12-minute video of her performance report on Facebook, featuring all the development programmes that she had initiated in Penanti.

“If I am chosen again, I hope my family can give their commitment to be here with me, as it is difficult to fight all alone when my family is back in Kajang,” she said.

Dr Norlela, 55, has been living on her own in Penanti since her mother died in 2015.

She has four children aged between 19 and 34.