PUTRAJAYA, Nov 12 — Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Putrajaya candidate Mohd Radzi Jidin has pledged to institute a citywide change in the constituency through the provision of appropriate facilities for people with disabilities (OKUs) and for senior citizens.
These facilities, though, appear to be largely targeted towards children and secondary school graduates, as provisions in Radzi’s manifesto for the 15th general election specifically mention the education needs of these groups and the incorporation of additional facilities to support autistic and dyslexic children.
Addressing a question from the floor at the launch of his manifesto here yesterday, the former education minister held that the PN manifesto provides for the education of special needs children that will help them gain employment upon graduation.
“Firstly, in the Perikatan Nasional manifesto at the state level, we indeed emphasise on the education for students with special needs. Normally, right now, they finish their education, they will end there and will be released from the system,” Radzi said.
“Because of that, we offer so that we will create a situation where they finish. Even if they exit the system, we will continue with training them to give them work opportunities. So, they finish studying with the basic skill in school, they want to enter the workforce, we want to prepare them.
“Special education classes are quite limited, and we want to make sure that the number of special classes will continue to increase. We will add special education classes at schools in Putrajaya, so that there will be an increase from time to time.”
When it came to specifically addressing the needs of dyslexic and autistic children, Radzi held that “this is a space that still needs a lot of improvement”, adding that he has a series of provisions for them in his manifesto to meet their needs and the needs of other OKUs.
The Bersatu vice president also pledged Putrajaya Care (VP Care), a free transportation service to ease the transportation of senior citizens and OKUs to health centres.
“Related to health, as an example, in the context of hospitals and such, in the process of building hospitals, what I think we need to pay special attention to…involves the facilities. On the last page, under infrastructure, we said to provide free transportation – Van Putrajaya Care, VP Care – to make it easier to transport senior citizens and OKUs to health centres,” Radzi said.
“This is one of the issues that we have included in the offer (manifesto) because we are aware that this is one of the issues that need to be given special attention.
“Because over here, it is not wide. In Putrajaya, from one end to the other end, it is not wide. So Putrajaya Care, our service centre, God willing, can cater to the needs of senior citizens and OKUs to get health services at any health centres that are available.”
To tackle the alarming problem of stunted children in Putrajaya, the PN candidate promises to provide free milk to kindergarteners in the country’s administrative centre to help with healthy growth.
“There is a provision related to this stunted group. We take it into consideration. You can see in the book (manifesto), regarding students that are stunted. That is why I say when we do the offer (tawaran), we look into all the details.
“That is why I said this offer comes from the people of Putrajaya. And after we analyse the situation here thoroughly, we know that we can take the level of Putrajaya to a much better level.”
Radzi also promised to address overweight and obesity in Putrajaya, where almost half of adult residents, or 45.8 per cent, are obese – the highest adult obesity rate in the country. Putrajaya’s adult overweight and obesity rate of 63.3 per cent exceeds the 50.1 per cent national prevalence.
If elected as Putrajaya MP, Radzi said he would designate Saturday as a sports and leisure day for residents, represented by the hashtag #HSRPutrajaya (Hari Sukan dan Riadah Putrajaya), to cultivate a healthy lifestyle and strengthen unity in the Putrajaya community.
“These leisure and recreational facilities represent an excellent facility that we have in Putrajaya today. Beautiful area, fresh air, we will make sports and leisure a part of the Putrajaya community culture. That is in our manifesto.”
This focus on sports and recreation is carried forward in the economic pillar of Radzi’s manifesto, as well as with the transformation of Putrajaya Lake, which is located at the heart of Putrajaya, into a world-class destination for water sports.
According to his manifesto, such a move will also encourage the Putrajaya populace, especially school and university students, to participate in these activities.
Currently, residents in Putrajaya and visitors can enjoy activities such as kayaking, canoeing, and rowing on the lake or a scenic bicycle ride around the lake.
When it comes to youth, Radzi seeks to provide a Juara Putrajaya grant for the empowerment of associations and sports clubs in Putrajaya. Though beneficial to the physical health of the youth of Putrajaya, the grant is targeted more towards polishing young talent through the cooperation of the federal government and other corporate bodies.
Radzi is running in a six-corner contest for the Putrajaya parliamentary seat against four-term incumbent Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (Barisan Nasional) and Noraishah Mydin Abdul-Aziz (Pakatan Harapan), a researcher with spina bifida who uses a wheelchair, among other candidates.
