Patahiyah set to become first woman council chief

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Mu­­nicipal Council (MPPP) secretary Patahiyah Ismail is set to become the first woman to helm a local authority in the country.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he would propose for Patahiyah to be appointed MPPP president during the state exco meeting on Tuesday.

Patahiyah will take over from Tan Cheng Chui, who opted for earlier retirement and has been on leave since Nov 20.

Lim said Patahiyah, who assumed the duties of council president on Nov 23, has performed well during Tan’s absence.

“I have discussed my proposal with fellow exco members and everyone agrees that she is the right person,” Lim told a press conference at his office in Komtar yesterday, adding that the swearing-in would be held on March 1.

He said Patahiyah’s appointment as MPPP president would be a historic moment as she would be the first woman to hold the post of a council president.

Earlier, Lim’s confidential secretary Farida Hani M. Yacob denied that there was a directive barring visitors from entering the Chief Minister’s office on the 28th floor of Komtar.

She said a notice posted at the entrance to Lim’s office only stipulated that visitors had to identify themselves to the security guard and state who they wanted to meet.

“It is not that we do not allow people to come to the office, so please do not politicise such minor issues,” Farida Hani told a press conference.

She was responding to newspaper reports quoting Umno Youth information chief Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican as claiming that there was a directive barring visitors as well as state officials from entering Lim’s office.