PENANG island will be divided into three colour-coded zones with the red zone designated as dirty under a blueprint proposed by the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) to make the island a cleaner place.

The two other zones are the orange and green zones (moderate and clean zones respectively).

MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail said the blueprint on the strategies and enforcement that should be employed to the council would be tabled to the state government for its approval by the end of this month.

“We realise that we need to be more efficient in enforcing the rules to make Penang island cleaner and greener,” she said when met by reporters.

She explained that the island would be divided into colour-coded zones to differentiate the amount of focus the council should be giving in improving the cleanliness as well as to monitor the progress of each zone more effectively.

“As soon as we get the green light from the state government, the implementation of the blueprint will be done immediately,” Patahiyah said after officiating the ‘Cleaner, Greener Penang Gotong-Royong Perdana’ at Straits Quay.

More than 1,000 people took part in the programme, which was a collaborative effort between the MPPP and the residents committees of Tanjung Bungah and Tanjung Tokong.

The participants included school students, hotel staff and council staff as well as representatives from various village security and development committees in the Tanjung Tokong and Tanjung Bungah areas.

The areas of the gotong-royong were divided into three sections, A for Tanjung Tokong, B for Tanjung Bungah and C for the beachfront.

The state Forestry Department also contributed 34 tree saplings such as Calophyllium Inophyllum (Penaga Laut), Hopea Odorata (Merawan Siput Jantan) and Tecoma to be planted along the beach.

Also present during the event yesterday were organising chairman Lim Cheng Hoe and Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu.

Source: The Star