RESIDENTS living in the century-old settlement in Gat Lebuh Sandilands off Jalan C.Y. Choy can look forward to better living conditions as a redevelopment proposal for the area has been put in place.

Housewife Loh Bee Luan, 67, said the place was always infested with mosquitoes which breed in stagnant water.

“There is no proper drainage system here and rubbish would clog up the drains too.

“We also encounter snakes and monitor lizards,” she said when met at her home during a visit by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng recently.

Loh added that the place was smelly as it had no proper sewerage system as well.

“We are happy to know that the state government is planning to redevelop this place,” she said.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow, who also visited the place, said the state is planning to redevelop the 1.85ha of land which has 60 residential houses, 14 small factories and three Chinese temples.

“We are here to listen to the residents’ views. This settlement, which has been around for close to 100 years, has been without proper roads as well as drainage and sewerage systems.

“It is located on the fringe of the city. If the state government does not develop such areas, it will continue to be like this for the next 50 years.

“The land office will be doing a detailed survey to know the needs of the occupants, made up of 60 families and their extended families,” he said.

He added that there was a proposal to build a flat for the residents.

“It is under the affordable housing programme,” he said.

Lim said the redevelopment project for public housing was to build better living facilities for the people and improve their quality of life.

“Since the majority of the residents here want redevelopment for public housing, we, as a people-centric government, have decided to visit them to gather more feedback,” he said, adding that the Penang Development Corporation would do the planning for the public housing project.

Source: The Star