Don’t let Penang developers pave over padi fields, Reezal told

 

Penanti state assembly member Norlela Ariffin and chief minister Chow Kon Yeow walking through the padi fields of Kampung Terus during the Penang International Padi Festival in 2019.

GEORGE TOWN: A Bumipuera organisation in Penang, Pemikir, has urged the new minister of housing and local government, Reezal Merican Naina Merican to ensure that development policies implemented by Penang’s local authorities are fair and balanced.

Pemikir chairman Muhamad Farid Saad said Reezal, who is Kepala Batas MP, should ensure that the interests of the Bumiputera community are looked into.

Muhamad Farid said Penang was also the only state in Malaysia in which the entire state came under the administration of city councils.

“Villages should also be equipped with complete, modern and adequate infrastructure facilities as in the urban areas of George Town, without affecting the tranquillity of the traditional village,” he said.

“Padi fields and green areas should not arbitrarily be allowed to be rezoned as development areas according to the whims and fancies of developers without considering the continuity of livelihoods there,” he said.

He said Bumiputera homeownership in Penang, especially for youths, must be improved in line with the National Housing Policy.

He also called for the impact of the Malaysia My Second Home programme to be examined, and ownership requirements should be tightened for the interest of all parties. - FMT