Anwar pledges to clean up PD beaches, if he becomes MP

PORT DICKSON: Incoming PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has pledged to breath new life into the squalid conditions of the Port Dickson beaches, if he wins in the coming polls on Oct 13.

In praising Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Aminuddin Harun's efforts in cleaning up the beaches of Port Dickson, Anwar also said he will ensure strict enforcement by authorities to ensure that quality of the beaches is preserved.

He also cited the achievements of Singapore's late founding father Lee Kuan Yew who managed to clean up the Singapore River, which was the dirtiest in the country at that time, within less than 10 years.

"Whether or not it's possible, (it depends) if we are strict towards taukehs (business owners), hotel owners, small business owners and even Malaysians who wanted to picnic by the beaches.

"You think Anwar is kind? If you throw plastic, we will punish. Because we want to clean up the beaches. At the same time, we will want to ask big companies to pump in new sand in the beaches so we get the cleanest beach," he added.

Anwar was speaking in a speech during the officiating ceremony of Pakatan Harapan's Operations Centre here on Friday (Sept 28).

Meanwhile, Anwar stressed that Port Dickson mustn't be a vacation site for only the rich.

"We will also have reserve areas for people to have picnics and holidays. It is inappropriate for Port Dickson to be a place for only the rich."

Anwar said he will ensure more affordable housing are constructed for the impoverished in Port Dickson, adding that he will introduce a special education programme for primary and secondary school students.

"This is a good programme for our children from Standard One until Form Five. God willing, I will make an announcement soonest possible."

Meanwhile, at a separate press conference, PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution said Pakatan's campaign machinery for the by-election will be aimed at increasing voter turnout, which was an issue in the Seri Setia, Balakong and Sungai Kandis by-elections.

"We realised that the voter turnout in the previous by-election was very low and that is our challenge."

Saifuddin also said that Pakatan will not respond harshly to personal attacks by its opponents in the looming polls.

"If they throw shit at us, we will give them flowers instead."

Nomination for the Port Dickson by-election will be on Sept 29 (Saturday), which is shaping up to be a six-cornered fight at the moment, after Anwar's controversial former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan decided to contest as an independent candidate.

The Oct 13 polls will see a fight between Pakatan's Anwar, PAS' Mohd Nazari Mokhtar, Parti Rakyat Malaysia's Ahmad Kamaruddin, and three independent candidates - Tan Sri Isa Samad, Stevie Chan Keng Leong, and Saiful.

There are 72,212 registered voters, consisting of 42.7% Malays, 33.1% Chinese and 22% Indians in the parliamentary constituency.

The Port Dickson parliamentary constituency, formerly known as Teluk Kemang, has about 7,000 early voters.