ISKANDAR PUTERI: To say that Pandak Ahmad is familiar with the people and issues in the Kota Iskandar constituency is a bit of an understatement.
That's because the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the state seat has served as a village head at Kampung Sungai Melayu here for almost 30 years.
"I was first appointed as village head in 1989 when I was 26, and served for almost 30 years until 2018 when BN lost the state government.
"I have a lot of experience serving the people here, regardless of their political views.
"I have dealt with all sorts of problems faced by the people," said Pandak at the Kota Iskandar Special Constituency Coordinating Committee office here.
He had also served as a councillor with the Iskandar Puteri City Council and its predecessor the Central Johor Baru Municipal Council for several terms.
"Basically, I have been doing part of the job of an assemblyman in the past.
"I am very familiar with local issues and problems.
"People in the area know me," said Pandak, who is 58 years old.
One of the main issues affecting constituents is the lack of religious schools as well as poor school infrastructure.
"There is also a lack of Lower Form Six classes at schools here.
"This has inconvenienced parents who have to send their Form Six children to schools that are far from home.
"This is a disadvantage for B40 students particularly, because some of them had to quit school since they could not afford to go to these far-flung schools.
"This is an issue I plan to raise if I am elected," said Pandak, who is Johor Umno's executive secretary.
He is facing a five-corner contest for Kota Iskandar, which was previously known as Nusajaya.
He faces Dzulkefly Ahmad of Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional's Samsudin Ismail, Arangkannal Rajoo of Parti Sosialis Malaysia and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air's Dr Zaini Abu Bakar, who was also a former assemblyman in the past.
In the 14th general election, Dzulkefly defeated BN's Mohd Khairi A. Malik and Sallehuddin Dahiran of Pas with a majority of 14,543 votes.
Pandak is highly confident that voters in Kota Iskandar would support BN in the election as the political situation now is different than in the 14th GE.
"The last time, people were fed with lies and slanders and rejected BN.
"Now, I see that support for BN has increased, which is why I am highly confident."