PENANG Island City Council (MBPP) secretary Yew Tung Seang will be appointed a mayor to replace Maimunah Mohd Sharif, who is leaving to take up a United Nations post.

State local government executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said the state executive council has decided to accept the city council’s recommendation to appoint Yew, a trained architect, to take over from Maimunah.

Maimunah, who has been mayor for only over six months, is taking up her new post as executive director of the Nairobi-based United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

Chow said her request for optional retirement to take up the UN post was approved, leading the position of council mayor to be vacant beginning this Saturday.

“She will be handing over her duties to Yew on Friday in a ceremony. Yew will be sworn in next Monday,” he said today.

Yew, 54, a Universiti Sains Malaysia trained architect, is a corporate member of the Malaysian Institute of Architects and Board of Architects Malaysia.

He first joined the council (then Penang Island Municipal Council) in 1991 as a contract building architect. He become a permanent staff in 1993.

He was then promoted to chief architect in the council’s building department in 2008, before moving up to Building Control Department director in 2010, and subsequently council secretary last year.

“I am grateful, and I humbly accept the appointment. I understand the duty is heavy and challenging,” Yew said in a press conference at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s office today.

Yew pledged to do his best to realise the state and council’s goal to make Penang Island cleaner, greener, healthier and safer.

Among the jobs and challenges he will now oversee are waste separation at source, traffic congestion, safety, flash floods, cleanliness, community engagement and green initiatives.

Replacing Yew as council secretary is another experienced MBPP officer, Engineering Department director Addnan Mohd Razali.

He joined the council as an engineer in 1984 and was promoted to deputy director and director of the engineering department in 2011 and 2012 respectively. – January 17, 2018.