BATU PAHAT: UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, who is contesting the Rengit seat in the Johor state election, is confident that his experience as a former Batu Pahat Member of Parliament will help him provide the best service to the people in the constituency.

He is in a three-cornered fight for the Regit seat against candidates from PKR, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) and Perikatan Nasional (PN).

"I am confident that I will win because Rengit is not a foreign place for me. I used to be the Member of Parliament for Batu Pahat and I always go to Senggarang and Rengit," he told reporters after the nomination process for the Rengit constituency here today.

Mohd Puad, who is also a former Deputy Education Minister, won the Batu Pahat parliamentary seat in the 2008 General Election.

Mohd Puad said he hoped to provide better health facilities for the people in Rengit, especially for dialysis treatment for kidney patients.

With the '4K@Rengit' as his slogan, Mohd Puad said he hoped to develop the Rengit copnmstuituency based on the 4Ks, namely "Kesejahteraan, Kesihatan, Kecergasan dan Keceriaan" (Wellness, Health, Fitness and Fun).

Meanwhile, PKR candidate Khairuddin A Rahim said the addressing coastal erosion in Rengit would be his priority, apart from solving the problem on low water pressure in the interior areas of Rengit.

The announcement on the candidates for the Rengit state seat was made by the Returning Officer, Mohd Mackeen Mohd Shafie, at the nomination centre for the constituency at Dewan Makmur Rengit here.

In the 14th General Election (GE14), the Rengit state seat was won by BN candidate Ayub Jamil, who defeated Malik Faishal Ahmad, of PKR, and PAS candidate, Mohd Tumiran Ahmad with a majority of 9,642 votes.

-- BERNAMA