It was an interesting piece by Ram Anand in Malaysiakini on the chances of the candidates for the Kota Raja Parliamentary seat in Klang.

But it really surprised me that the BN candidate S Murugesan has decided to go big by making five promises to deliver if he is elected as the Member of Parliament for that constituency.

This is risky as most of the pledges that he has promised, are to repair the end results of years of neglect under previous BN federal and state administrations.

Being a constituency that has a big Indian population, the previous and current federal governments did not take heed of the numerous complaints about security, public transport, government clinics and creches which Murugesan now wants to implement.

Security

The Kota Raja Constituency where housing estates like that of Taman Sentosa and the surrounding areas have long been known as notorious hangouts for petty thieves and mid-level gangsters who are training to become bolder criminals in the near future.

The presence of a police station in Taman Sentosa and in Bandar Puteri is of no significance to these youths as they have no fear of the police.

All that we see these days are young police personnel who themselves look like secondary school kids in uniforms riding around in motorbikes like a pack of wolves.

Womenfolk still get waylaid and houses are still broken into even though there are police stations nearby.

Patrol cars do make rounds but this is not sufficient at all.

This has made most of the residents around the area to form residents' associations to employ security companies to provide security for a fee.

Most of these security companies belong to cronies of the previous BN administration and the current caretaker federal administration.

As such, they are allowed a free hand to simply decide as they see fit what on ought to be the best security solutions to the petty crimes and house break-ins that occur.

The question is, why build police stations in these areas when most times, these stations are not manned and we do not see officers and their personnel doing their work - run a police station which the people can go to when they have a problem?

What is even worse is that we see a lot of youths who zoom around in motorcycles without helmets but are in T-shirts of political parties pasting and planting posters, banners and flags of the candidates!

Until and unless the police do what the taxpayers are paying them to do - which is to police - these youthful thugs will not be bothered.

Until and unless a tough cop takes over the Klang Police District and is given a free hand to deal with this menace, the problem will not go away.

We had tough cops like Aziz Ariarasa and Paramasivam in Klang but as usual, politics come in and they got transferred.

Transport

We once had the KL Klang Omnibus and Klang Banting Mara buses plying the routes in this constituency.

But today we don't see the buses any more because there seems to be a monopoly of these services with licences to operate stage buses only given to cronies of certain top political elites.

If the non-Malays were given a free and fair chance to operate stage buses in these areas, they would do a roaring business and there would be jobs for the youths here who seem to have nothing worthwhile to do.

There are many Chinese and Indian businessmen who are ready to invest in stage bus or even mini-bus services.

But getting the licences and the amounts of bribes that these businessmen have to pay to be able to obtain such licences, far outweighs the gains that they may get by operating these services.

The interiors of Taman Sentosa, Bandar Puteri, Bandar Putera, Jalan Kebun, Bukit Rimau, Kota Kemuning and even the older housing estates of Klang Jaya and Andalas don't seem to have any buses plying these routes.

We have to note that the current caretaker Pakatan government can only do so much as these bus routes and licences come under the purview of a federal agency which comes under the thumb of the Najib administration.

So unless and until all this comes under the purview of the state government and there is no overlap and there is no cronyism practiced, transport woes will be here to stay.

The people who buy houses here will have to have a car or else they just can't get to work.

Creches

What are we pledging here when Parliament itself has not taken the lead to have one for its female MPs whilst they debate and make laws and policies for us?

For this initiative to take place, the women in the current caretaker federal administration must press the PM but what do we see?

We see that the womenfolk are as greedy and as corrupted if not more than their men!

1M'sia clinics

Currently there is one and it is overcrowded and the staff who are from the Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Klang are also overworked.

There is one doctor on duty and it is the medical assistant who is doing the work most of the time.

The medicines being dished out here are mostly generics given by their boss, the Health Ministry in Putrajaya.

So we can't expect much to happen anytime soon.

Even if after Murugesan finishes his first term as the MP for Kota Raja if he gets elected, this pledge will remain an unfulfilled pledge because there is no will from the decision makers in Putrajaya. This makes these candidates "mandores".

Flood mitigation

We have to note that the current state administration has done a good job in deepening the drainage system and the flow of water during huge downpours in Sentosa and Bandar Puteri.

But all these flaws are the responsibility of the master planners of the area.

The Kota Raja constituency was once made up of several large oil palm plantations, so the soil here is soft and damp and sinks over time.

Proper rubbish collection (which has been improving under the current caretaker state administration) and the civic mindedness of the people have got to be improved.

The current state policy of not allowing the usage of plastic bags on Saturday is beginning to take effect, people are getting used to it and it is beginning to show results.

But as said earlier, the planners have to be careful when it comes to drainage. If we build and build and don't bother where the water goes, even Superman can't solve the problem.

Therefore one hopes the people of Kota Raja will think deeply before they vote on the 5th of May.

Your vote will have to stop cronyism and corruption so that the money allocated for your constituency can reach your constituency.

Your vote must help remove the racial barriers in business and the issuance of licences so that your woes can be solved by new investment into transport and services.

Vote and vote, don't abstain.

It is our democratic right and the people should determine who forms the next government in Putrajaya.

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