THE Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) on the Penang mainland may soon get an upgrade to city council status.

MPSP president Rozali Mohamud said no official announcement has been made, but Local Government and Housing Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin had talked about it at least three times recently.

State local government exco Jagdeep Singh Deo, he said, had also mentioned it.

“The decision is now with the cabinet. At the state level, we have already done all that is necessary to qualify for the city status.

“For now, we will be proactive and ask residents to tell MPSP what they want for Seberang Prai if we get our city status soon.

“Share your views with us. We will take your input and discuss them in our meetings on the way forward for Seberang Prai,” he told a press conference at his Bandar Perda office today.

Those with ideas to share with MPSP can post their input on its Facebook page.

It was reported that MPSP has qualified for city council status since 2008. Among the criteria fulfilled are an annual revenue of over RM100 million and a population of over 500,000 people.

MPSP’s projected revenue for this year is RM271.2 million.

In the past, when Penang was under an opposition government, the state was told by the former federal administration that a state could only have one city council. The Penang Island council received its city status in 2015.

MPSP is the largest local council in the country, covering an area of 755,000 sq km.

The Penang government had stated that the future of the state was in Seberang Prai, which still has much land for development.

Among its major growth areas is Batu Kawan, which is being developed into a new township. Ikea’s first branch in the northern region just opened there last week. – March 21, 2019.