IN a bid to have a safer city, the Penang government has installed more than 1,000 closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) pledged in the 14th General Election manifesto last year.
Speaking on this, Penang Local Government, Housing, Town & Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo told reporters this was a boost and an achievement for the state.
He said these CCTVs being fixed was the government’s initiative to reduce crime and a way forward towards a smart city.
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“I’m happy that a total of 1,175 units of CCTVs have been fixed.
“This includes Penang being the first state to instal facial recognition cameras,” he told a press conference in Komtar.
Jagdeep was addressing the media on the promises made under his portfolio last year.
According to him, his portfolio, which includes Local Government, Housing, Country & Town Planning, was for long-term planning and would need time to materialise.
For housing, Jagdeep said the pledge made has even been surpassed in terms of units of housing delivered.
“In our last election manifesto, we have pledged 75,631 units of low-cost (LC), low medium-cost (LMC) and affordable housing to be delivered by 2025,” he said.
“However, I’m glad to announce that as of up to date, we have exceeded that number, namely 29,959 units have been built, 23,567 are in various stages of being built and 48,528 have been approved to be built.
“They totalled 102,054 units overall, surpassing the target of 75,631 units.”
Nevertheless, on the local government aspect, Jagdeep said several key initiatives have been laid out, including achieving the status of a smart state, smart parking system, the introduction of Terragraph broadband, planting more trees to maintain the state as a cleaner, safer and healthier place.
And also, Penang leads in having two digital libraries on the island while another Islamic Digital Library is currently in the process of being built on the mainland
On Jagdeep’s Town and Country Planning aspect, he pointed out reclamation works for Gurney Wharf, a world-class “park-on-the-sea” is expected to complete in three months.
The many components of the promenade will offer public facilities to the people along the seafront, skate park, shops, public toilet, viewing decks, children playground, parking lots and disabled-friendly facilities.
On local government election, Jagdeep said state awaits its final decision by Federal Government as Putrajaya would have its final say on this.
“We will continue to push for it,” he stressed.
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix by Alissala Thian