Penang Island Municipal Council seeks city status status

GEORGE TOWN: Penang has urged Putrajaya to consider granting city status to the Penang Island Municipal Council (PIMC).
State Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said elevating the municipal council to the Penang Island City Council was the way forward noting that the state was the only one without city status.
He said granting the city status also meant council enforcement officers are able to carry out their duties more effectively.
"For an example, city council traffic enforcement personnel could issue summonses for speeding compared to municipal officers who could only issue parking fines.

"City council traffic officers will also have the power to manage traffic conditions in case there is a jam. In this way, I believe many of the traffic problems in Penang can be addressed," he said in a press conference today.
The issue was brought up during the 67th National Local Government Council meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on March 4.
George Town was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II during colonial times but local government reorganisation exercises in 1976 saw the George Town City Council merge with the Penang Rural District Council to become the present PIMC.
After the Pakatan Rakyat government took over in 2008, a decision was made in 2010 to have the status upgraded and an application was sent to the Local Government Ministry in August 2010 and the process has been ongoing since.