THE Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) are working on reinstating the car-free day on Sunday in Beach Street on the island and Jalan Todak on the mainland respectively.
State Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo today said both councils would revive the initiative in phases after it was cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic for the past two years to curb the further spread of infections.
Car-free day, an initiative that was first introduced in Europe, was emulated by the local councils here in Penang in 2015.
“When we started this programme in 2015, we thought it was a good move as it was in line with our state’s vision of going green, as well as raising awareness of sustainability among Penangites,” Jagdeep (PH – Datuk Keramat) said during the question-and-answer session at the State Legislative Assembly today.
Meanwhile, Heng Lee Lee (PH – Berapit) believed that the car-free day initiative should be extended to more areas in Seberang Perai to benefit the people there.
“The land size is huge on the mainland. Why not extend this initiative to the north and south of Seberang Perai apart from just near Sunway Carnival Mall?
“Also, there is a rising demand among the people for this initiative to start once again.
“It is hoped the state government can provide an exact date on when we can expect the commencement of car-free day again,” Lee said.
In response, Jagdeep agreed with Lee’s view that the initiative should be extended to various areas on the mainland.
“I will discuss this with the mayors to look at the possibility of extending this programme to other parts of Seberang Perai,” he added.
When the car-free day was held in Penang, it usually attracted a lot of visitors, be it locals or foreigners, as they enjoyed the walk along the streets lined with interesting and exciting stalls selling handcrafted materials or putting up animals for adoption and so on.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi