Penang is a small island that has faced a lot of development over the years, so it’s understandable that its government is concerned about how sustainable that is.
According to The Sun Daily, Penang state executive councillor, Phee Boon Poh, said that Penang is encouraging families to move to sparsely populated townships in the mainland like Batu Kawan, Kepala Batas, and Nibong Tebal in efforts to reduce congestion on the island. Basically, he’s encouraging more urban-rural migration as opposed to rural-urban migration to cause less stress on the environment!
Source: Property Insight
On top of that, he mentioned that Penang, especially George Town, Balik Pulau, Butterworth, and Bukit Mertajam, has also faced high levels of rainfall, floods, landslides, and severe storms caused by climate change. The most recent case of this was the November 2017 flood, which was the worst flood in the state’s history as it caused damage to buildings and even water treatment facilities.
He added that the government plans to upgrade amenities in less populated areas in the mainland to make them more attractive to Penangites so that they can settle outside of the island.
Source: Lim Wei Teong | Dreamstime
Councillor Phee told the daily,
“We and the rest of the world should have been better prepared. Dire warnings were issued by scientists at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. We chose to ignore and now we have to seriously look into it.”
In the meantime, the state executive councillor has stated that Penang also plans to ban all types of plastics by 2018 to manage waste disposal.
Are you a proud Penangite? What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: 7 Things Malaysians Need to Know About the Massive Floods That Hit Penang
