THE Penang government is beefing up environmental-friendly initiatives to turn Penang into a zero-carbon state.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang said the state was making progress in its ‘No plastic straw’ and ‘No single use plastic’ initiatives.
“We understand that the state is formulating the policies for the ‘No plastic straw’ and ‘No single use plastic’ initiatives. We had talks with industry players as well as famous restaurant and café operators such as Starbucks and McDonald’s.
“Their responses were positive. We encouraged them to promote the ‘No plastic straw’ and ‘No single use plastic’ initiatives to their customers,” Yew said after opening the ‘Towards Zero Carbon City’ seminar at Jen Hotel in Magazine Road today.
In his speech, Yew said the carbon dioxide emission in Malaysia was approximately eight metric tons per capita in 2014.
“It was only 1.4 metric tons per capita in 1970. The carbon dioxide emission in Malaysia has increased almost six-fold from 1970 to 2014.
“MBPP is determined to make Penang Cleaner, Greener, Safer, Healthier and Happier.
“Among the green initiatives championed by the city council are the bike sharing system, Green School Award programme, converting existing street lights to LED lights, ‘Plogclean’ programmes, tree planting programmes and many more.
“The council also gives out incentives to encourage developers to set up more Green Building Index-rated buildings.
“I believe that Penang is the only state in Malaysia that rewards developers for their green effort. We reward those are granted GBI Gold or GBI Platinum such as rebating their development charges,” he said.
Yew also said that a total of 363,665 trees had been planted in the state for the past 10 years.
“We will continue to plant 100,000 more trees in the next five years.
“We are also working on repopulating George Town to minimise people movement and to make George Town a destination to work, live and play,” he added.
More than hundred participants, comprised of local council officers and professional architects, attended the seminar which was organised by MBPP.
Also present were MBPP secretary Addnan Mohd Razali, Malaysia Green Building Confederation (MGBC) past president Von Kok Leong and MGBC honorary secretary Michael Ching Chee Hoong.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad