Putrajaya: Penang can have more than one city council

PETALING JAYA (October 5): Penang government will proceed with plans for Seberang Prai municipal council (MPSP) on mainland Penang to city to be elevated to city council status.

The Malaysian Insight (TMI) reports that local government exco Jagdeep Singh Deo said Putrajaya has confirmed that no state is restricted from having more than one city council, contrary to what the former Barisan Nasional federal government said.

“We tried to elevate MPSP to city council status in the last term, but we could not do so because of the so-called restriction.

“It was an unacceptable excuse. We know there are other states with more than one city council,” Jagdeep was quoted as saying by the news portal.

Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam city councils co-exist in Selangor, Johor Bahru and Iskandar Puteri city councils operate in Johor, while in Sarawak there are three: the Kuching North, Kuching South, and Miri city councils.

“In a meeting with Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin yesterday, I asked the ministry again if there was such a restriction.

“Zuraida said there was no such thing and that Penang was welcome to apply for city council status for MPSP,” Jagdeep said, and the news portal quote him as saying that he would expedite the state’s effort to make MPSP a city council.

TMI reports that speaking on another matter, Jagdeep said Penang will be getting more public people’s housing projects from the federal government.

“It is confirmed that two plots of land in Jelutong are being considered for development by the federal government,” he said, adding that the projects may take another two to three years.

The state has identified another 21.88ha of land across all five districts in Penang for PPR projects.