KEMAMAN, Nov 21 — Fishermen at Pantai Tanjung Kemasik want the candidate elected as their parliamentary representative in the Kemaman by-election to resolve the issue of the shallow river estuary in the area.

Fisherman Zuaimi Mat Ali, 59, said the shallow river mouth, which is making it difficult for them to go out to sea and to land their catch, had been going on for almost five years.

"When the water recedes, we have problems taking the boat out to the sea, and when we want to land our catch, we have to anchor far from the beach, at the end of the breakwater, so as not to risk damaging the boat if we enter the shallow water,” he said when met by Bernama in a fishing village here.

According to Zuami, the breakwater project implemented by the state government failed to solve their problem.

This was agreed by Zulkifli Abdul Ghani, 63, who said that the problem is affecting their income.

"It’s worse around this time, as we cannot go out to the sea because of the monsoon. During this time, the waves are so huge, but thankfully the federal government has given us (fishermen) aid of RM300 a month,” he said.

According to the Terengganu Fishermen’s Association chairman Mat Yassim Mohamed, there are more than 500 fishermen in Kemaman.

Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Kemaman by-election, Gen (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor said he was aware of the fishermen’s problem and would look into the matter.

Raja Mohamed Affandi, who is former Commander-in-Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces, will face Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, of PAS in the straight fight for the parliamentary seat.

The Election Commission (EC) has set November 28 as early voting for the Kemaman by-election, while the polling day is on December 2.

The by-election was called following the decision of the Terengganu Election Court on September 26 to annul the victory of PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid in GE15.

A total of 141,790 electors are eligible to vote in the by-election including 387 police personnel, nine military personnel and 12 Overseas Absentee Voters.

In GE15, Che Alias won the seat with a majority of 27,179 votes by securing 65,714 votes, defeating Terengganu Umno Liaison chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Said who obtained 38,535 votes in the four-cornered fight.

Two other candidates were Hasuni Sudin of Pakatan Harapan who garnered 8,340 votes and Rosli Ab Ghani of Parti Pejuang Tanah Air who got 506 votes. — Bernama