By Violet Li
Jawad Erfani, a Casey Council election candidate for Kowan Ward, said he wanted to make sure he passed on a better place for the future generation to live.
He said his very personal reason for running was his young daughter.
The Endeavour Hill resident said he had relatives, siblings, and a lot of friends living down in the Kowan Ward.
“That’s why I care about that area because it’s affecting so many people I know and many people I don’t know, but they get affected equally,” he said.
After talking with locals for over eight months, Mr Erfani has come up with three priorities for the ward.
“My view is that a candidate cannot make an assumption about what are the main issues for their residents,” he said.
“It has to be based on what people are actually telling them, what seem to be the urgent issues that they want to resolve, and what they want them to focus on once the election is over and done.”
Mr Erfani’s top priority is on improving road infrastructure and easing traffic congestion.
“If you look at the boundaries of Kowan Ward, we have one gravel road, heavily congested all the time. Some parts are three lanes, some mostly two lanes and there’s so much roadworks happening,” he said.
“People are stuck stuck in this traffic. And then we have Thompson Road. Thompson Road is so narrow and so badly maintained. The approving houses are being built on the other side or south of Thompson Road and I just don’t know how they’re going to sustain that.
“I just don’t think the roads are ready for that many populations. Before those houses are done, why doesn’t the council do anything?
“Casey Council is not forward thinking. Their plans are good technically, but they don’t really take into consideration the population growth versus the infrastructure. They don’t seem to be adequately meeting each other.”
Community safety is Mr Erfani’s second priority.
“If you come south to Cranbourne North, the frequency of carjacking, burglaries, and break-ins increases. People are not feeling safe in their own homes,” he said.
He highlighted that a lot of streetlights in Kowan Ward were broken, and no one seemed to fix them, which created an environment for crimes.
“I think we need to probably work a little bit with the community consultant and do some community consultation in terms of what makes the community safe,” he said.
Mr Erfani’s last priority is to facilitate better community services.
“If I’m elected, I will work with the rest of the councillors on finding some ways of saving on the program that are less urgent and critical and investing in better services, the services such as repair, road maintenance, maintenance of the playgrounds and recreational facilities, investing in more youth programs and programs for our elderly and families and people from migrant community background,” he said.
“Casey Council has a committee focusing on Aboriginal issues, which is the right thing to do. However, there is no program, not even the scope, not even a feasibility study about the CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) community, which is about 30 per cent of the residents in the City of Casey.
“It’s just outrageous that there’s not even one program to consider the needs of CALD communities, whether it’s the child or maternal health.”
Mr Erfani is not a member of any political party and he is running independently.
“Fully self-funded. I’m using my tax return money for this campaign. I’m not receiving any donations. I’m not banked by any developer or a real estate agent,” he said.
“It is just outrageous that political parties are trying to interfere with people’s backyard. This is our home. They need to keep out. They have the State. They have the Federal.
“I don’t want any political party to determine which playgrounds get the attention or the funding you need, which part of the Kowan gets a better road, which part of the Kowan gets better street lighting.
“Every need should be treated the same.”
Mr Erfani said Casey needed people who actually cared about the community.
“Let’s have people who are keen to serve. Let’s have people who do not have a political agenda,” he said.
“Let’s bring people who are the community members, who are not dummy candidates.”
Mr Erfani is a contract manager professionally.
