THE Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) is all set to be conferred the city status after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Upon getting the title, Penang will be the only state in the country to have both its local councils with the city status.
When the Buletin Mutiara team approached the public to ask their opinion on this, some shared their expectations as well as expressed that MPSP well deserves the title.
Rev. S. Josephine, 47- Pastor from Butterworth
“This is a great move and truly a blessing to Penangites to have double city status. I believe Seberang Perai will soon see a face-lift and a drastic transformation.
“My dream is to see a balance development in Seberang Perai where it’ll progress into a modern city with environmental preservation and forest conservation in mind.
“We need more theme parks, futuristic children’s playgrounds and fields for sports activities to encourage physical exercise.
“The city council should also preserve and upgrade the existing forest recreational parks like Cherok Tok Kun in Bukit Mertajam.
“It will be also great to see the mainland becoming an educational hub and more job opportunities created for the people.
“With the emerging of Penang Sentral, I hope to see Butterworth developed as the corridor to George Town with outstanding bright decorations and declared as the ‘City of Light’.”
Manoranjitham Arumugam,33- Complex Inquiry Specialist from Ipoh, Perak
“I travel to Penang frequently to visit my friends who live here and last year I had the opportunity to visit the Butterworth Art Walk.
“I was very impressed with the ambiance of the place where the arts, culture and heritage of Butterworth town were showcased in a vibrant manner.
“Not only that I also attended the Butterworth Fringe Festival and the venue where it was held was pretty much unique as it was surrounded by the heritage buildings.
“Prior to visiting these places in Butterworth, I had the impression that only on the island there are places with such settings (heritage buildings) as well as mural arts.
“So to hear that the Seberang Perai local council will be attaining the city status is indeed a good news for the people here.
“I hope that after becoming a ‘city’ , there will be more attractions on the mainland. They should be promoted well to the people outside Penang.
“This is because most of the tourists, including people like me, only explore Penang on the island side but rarely come to the mainland.
“I’m back for holidays now, so I plan to go on a food hunt on the mainland”.
Foong Hao Zhe, 25 -Sales Executive from Bukit Mertajam
“The MPSP all these while, has been doing a great job and I feel that it is an achievement for them (MPSP) to receive the city status.
“Being born and bred on the mainland, I am happy to hear the good news and I hope this will bring about more fruitful things to the folks here.
“Upon the upgrading of Seberang Perai Municpal Council (MPSP) to Seberang Perai City Council, I hope there will not be any increase in the assessment fee imposed by the council.
“Since the current market situation is not in good shape, if there is an increase in the fee, that will burden the people even more.
“Apart from that, the council can focus more on improving people’s livelihood issues and urban development, and make Seberang Perai to become as an “Intelligent Smart City.
“I also hope that the traffic woes can be resolved after this.”
Tan Lee Ling , 34 -Reporter from Bukit Mertajam
“Once the council is upgraded to MBSP, I hope that the council can introduce a cashless parking system (Smart Parking System).
“This because now we have entered into the digital era, so it is high time for them (council) to embrace the technological shift.
“Apart from that, I think there are still many illegal hawkers on the streets and I hope that the council can investigate those vendors who are operating on busy roads.
“I am concerned about the safety of the diners at the roadside.
“Some of the roads need to be repaired due to their conditions.
“Overall, I am definitely happy that MPSP will become a city council.
“The things that I have brought to the council’s attention were meant to create a better environment for everybody and I do trust in their credibility.”
Story by Tanushalini Moroter