Relocate assembly building, Penang state govt urged

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Yang di-Pertua Tun Dr Abdul Rahman Abbas has urged the state government to relocate the current state legislative assembly building.
The administration should consider the Jelutong landfill, after the site has been cleared, as it is at a strategic location between the island and Seberang Prai on the mainland, he added.
“This will prove the commitment of the state government to transform the site,” he said when opening the state legislative assembly session today.
Abdul Rahman said the current building in Lebuh Light here was established in 1959 with the number of assemblymen then being 24.
He pointed out the number of elected representatives has since reached 40 but was still using the same space.
He said the current place was no longer enough nor suitable to accommodate the increase in constituencies.
“It cannot be denied that there is a need to provide good service to the people,” he added.
He also noted that he has found most state legislative buildings in Malaysia to be modern and fully equipped.
Those buildings could not only sit the present number of seats but could cater for any increase in future, he said.
“I am pleased to recommend that the state government begin the plans now to search for a suitable site for building the new state legislative assembly building,” he said.
Abdul Rahman had earlier congratulated Penang Island City Council mayor Datuk Patahiyah Ismail on her appointment as the first female mayor for Penang.
He also pleased that Penang is now the 13th city in the country after the Penang Island Municipal Council was given a city status.
He noted the Penang Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown annually by 6% since 2005, when the amount was RM39.2 billion, to RM62.6 billion in 2013.
He said the state managed to attract RM8.16 billion worth of investments in 2014 compared to RM3.91 billion in 2013.
“The rise in investments will ensure more employment opportunities,” he said, adding the unemployment rate in Penang was 1.7% compared to the national rate of 3.1%.