Phase Three of the RM1mil facelift for the Air Itam market in Penang is scheduled to begin next month.

Air Itam assemblyman Wong Hon Wai said this phase involved the upgrading of six stalls for poultry.

“In the first two phases which ended last month, 20 sundry goods stalls, 25 fish stalls, 18 tofu stalls and 12 stalls from the pork section have already been given a facelift,” he told reporters at the market.

He added that the upgrading included improvements on the lighting and drainage systems, and new tiles on the walls.

“The new stalls are equipped with roller shutters and their own water supply,” he said, adding that the fourth and final phase would be the upgrading of the vegetable stalls.

“This market was built before World War II and minor upgrades were carried out over the years. The entire facelift project is expected to be completed by the end of this year,” he said.

He said the new public toilets at the market were expected to be completed next month.

It was reported in January last year that the Air Itam market was among five markets earmarked for upgrading works under the Penang Municipal Council’s 2010 budget.

The other markets in the upgrading programme are those in Cecil Street, Jelutong, Batu Maung and Pulau Tikus.

Wong also said that the RM27,000 resurfacing works on two roads in Air Itam — the road leading to Kampung Pisang and another road in Happy Valley (Taman Lembah Ria) — were completed two weeks ago.

On another matter, Wong urged the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry to get to the root cause of the rising price of fish instead of issuing notices to traders who had increased the price.

It was reported on Friday that three fishmongers accused of profiteering had each been served with a notice by the state Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism enforcement division, under the newly-implemented Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

Source: The Star