SABAK BERNAM, Aug 1 — The excellent leadership and service rendered by Datuk Rizam Ismail as the assemblyman for Sungai Air Tawar throughout his tenure made him a good bet for continuous reform and development of the state constituency.

Several voters met by Bernama here strongly believed that the 42-year-old incumbent, who was born in the state constituency, is more than capable of retaining the seat for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the August 12 state polls.

For Jaafar Adnan, 72, Rizam is well known among the Sungai Air Tawar community and his excellent performance as the assemblyman was widely commended and recognised by the local residents.

"He should be retained. He is one of us... the elders in the constituency know him very well, he takes care of us well.

"I believe the voters here will continue to vote for BN. BN has been doing a great job looking after us, the assemblyman before Rizam also did a good job, they helped people from all walks of life,” he said when met at Pekan Parit Baru, here.

Businessman, Kee Yoke Yew, 33, said as long as the incumbent assemblyman continues to do good and bring development to the constituency, he should easily get the voters’ support.

Kee, who grew up in the constituency, said he will definitely return to vote on August 12 to retain Rizam as the assemblyman for Sungai Air Tawar, even though he currently resides in Subang Jaya.

"For the past 10 years, I saw many developments in Sungai Air Tawar, especially in terms of infrastructure and facilities at the fishermen’s villages. Therefore, we should maintain the incumbent,” he added.

Meanwhile, Hanafi Ahmad Mufid, 35, a civil servant said besides Rizam’s personality which is well-received by the residents, he believes BN and Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) cooperation in the state polls this time around can bring about greater economic impact and changes to the area.

"As young people, we definitely want someone young to represent us here and Datuk Rizam is the right candidate as he is a local and a hardworking person who fights for the development of the young generation and this state constituency as a whole,” he said.

In the 14th General Election (GE14), Rizam won the state seat after defeating the candidates from PAS and Bersatu with a 1,440-vote majority.

For this state polls, Rizam will be challenged by Mohamad Zaidi Selamat from Perikatan Nasional.

The Election Commission has set the polling for the state elections of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah, as well as the Kuala Terengganu Parliamentary By-Election (PRK), to be held simultaneously on August 12, and the early voting on August 8. — Bernama