GEORGE TOWN – The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) is offering contract jobs to various people who have been retrenched due to the current economic downturn and pandemic, beginning with 100 part-time positions.
The move is among a list of measures the council has drawn up to help alleviate the difficulties being faced by various segments of the public.
The part-time jobs to be filled as soon as possible are related to urban services and landscaping, MBPP president and mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang announced today.
Speaking after chairing a full council meeting held online, he said that the council understands the plight of many people who are affected, especially those who have become unemployed since the pandemic began 18 months ago.
Other support measures that have been decided on include free rental for council hawker lots until year-end and a 50% rebate on some council services. Meanwhile, the moratorium on assessment rates will continue until the end of the year, he said.
The exemptions would cost the council up to RM3.8 million in its current fiscal year, but are deemed necessary to mitigate the sufferings borne by ratepayers due to the pandemic, he added.
On other matters, Yew said that only 40% of the council’s staff are vaccinated thus far despite the general rush to get immunised.
The council will step up efforts to convince the health authority that local government employees need to be considered as frontliners, he added.
He said that there are currently 200 MBPP staff members who are resisting vaccination for personal reasons. The council is trying to convince them to be jabbed.
Meanwhile, touching on climate change, councillor K. N. Lee urged MBPP to review its building by-laws in view of adaptations that development projects need to undergo now due to changing climatic conditions.
Lee, who represents the Penang Ratepayers Association in the council, said that development projects along sensitive terrains such as hillslopes need to be reviewed, especially in areas such as Tanjung Bungah.
To this, Yew noted that Lee was referring to a specific project in Tanjung Bungah, and assured that the council will act on it after a consultant reports on the safety aspects there.
He agreed that there is a need to review hillslope development guidelines in view of the effects of climate change, including different patterns of rainfall.
“We expect to unveil new hillslope guidelines soon,” he said.
Penang has seen increasing cases of landslides and flash floods in recent years.
Yew supported the concept of having a uniform building by-laws, but said that it needs to be enacted nationally. – The Vibes, July 27, 2021
