Solve traffic congestion woes, Penangites urge
GEORGETOWN - Enough of spending minutes and hours in traffic congestions, Penangites are urging for their traffic woes to be solved.
Being the second smallest state in Malaysia and a 'tourist attraction' spot, Penang is well-known for its traffic congestions and traffic lights.
These issues have been the talk of the town for many years, yet the problem still remains without any changes.
Speaking to some locals here in Penang island, some of them have expressed their frustrations on the time they have to spend on the road despite being near to their final destinations.
Admin assistant Nurul Sabrina Salleh, 46, said she would spend typically 30 to 40 minutes on road before and after work.
"My destination is very near but it consumes a lot of time.
"Traffic light and jam issues need to be monitored, that's just one of the issues of concern in Penang," she told Sinar Daily.
When asked on the developments of Penang under DAP's governance, Sabrina said that she is quite happy and satisfied with the former state government.
"All good in Penang, after all it's been under DAP's governance for several years now.
"Not sure why people fear DAP, there are Muslims living in Penang and we are good. I've never encountered any racism here.
"We do have mosques, we do have azan and we perform our prayers as usual," she said.
Meanwhile, Chan Mei Lin, 54 who is a local hawker, said the traffic in Penang is so bad until her family has gotten used to it.
"All the developments are good here in Penang except for the traffic problems which are getting worse day by day especially during weekends.
"We can not blame the government much because Penang is a tourist attraction spot so we expect many cars on a daily basis are normal.
"But the Penang government can improvise the traffic system since its getting too hectic here," she said.
Speaking to another local here, Thepakanthan Muniandy, 33 said the developments in Penang are good with improvements such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) being installed on road for red traffic lights.
However, he said that some complaints and petitions are ignored and no action has been taken.
"Last year March, I requested for street lights in front of my house as it was pitch black during the night.
"Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) advised me to apply with the state assemblyman. It's been a year since I made the request, yet there has no light installation," said the Penang airport officer.
Thepakanthan hopes that complaints such as these will be taken into consideration after the upcoming state elections
