Penang state govt vows to speed up repairs on roads under its jurisdiction

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government has promised to cut the time taken to repair state roads under its jurisdiction to the shortest possible.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he has directed the relevant state agencies to address any complaints about the poor condition of state roads in Penang.
He said most of the degradation to roads under the state government's supervision were mainly caused by maintenance work by utility companies.
"I have said this before, the state government is not 100% perfect but we are ready to accept the challenge by responding fast to overcome the complaints from the people," he told reporters after officiating the Second Generation of Founder Institute Graduation Day at Penang Science Face this morning.
Lim also voiced his frustration with pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) media who did not highlight the bad condition of the roads under the federal government's supervision.
He cited the road condition before Chung Ling High School from Komtar is in good condition as the road is under the supervision of the state administration but the road after the school was in bad condition as it is federal roads.
"There are people who questioned this, but I think they did not understand the difference between the state and federal roads," he said.
On Thursday, Lim responded to the Penang MCA chief who criticised the state over the poor road condition in Solok Relau in Paya Terubong.
He pointed out that the state government is not allowed to make repairs on the federal roads as it is stated in the provision of law.
In separate function later, Lim said that Penang has achieved the highest recycling rate in the country at 38% as compared to the national recycling rate of 22% and hoped to increase it to 40% by 2020.
"In Penang, an average of 1700 to 1800 tonnes of waste are sent to Pulau Burung landfill everyday.
"Waste segregation at source is one of the ways to sustain the environment and to reduce the waste generation to the island", he said during his opening speech at the opening ceremony of the Penang International Green Carnival 2017 at Setia Spice Arena.
The family themed carnival is jointly organized by the Penang Green Council (PGC),Malaysian Green Building Confederation (MGBC) Northern Chapter and Green Building Index (GBI).
It was also supported by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MBPP) and also the state government.