VIP lane: The reserved stretch of parking bays for Nga’s entourage outside a restaurant on Lebuh Campbell has drawn flak from business operators nearby. — By CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: From 10pm on Thursday night, about 30 roadside parking lots were barricaded along Lebuh Campbell in readiness for Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming’s lunch event at Hameediyah Restaurant, the oldest nasi kandar restaurant in the country.
Shopkeepers stared wide-eyed because the road – only 7m across – is at the edge of the city’s heritage enclave and public parking is almost a precious commodity in this densely built neighbourhood.
Drivers who determinedly parked their cars in these “reserved” lots in the night reportedly had their cars towed to other spots along the road.
The parking lots were reserved with lengths of red-and-white plastic tape wrapped around plastic roadworks barricades.
Nga and his convoy of an estimated 15 cars arrived at 11.30am yesterday, conveniently parking smack in front of the restaurant.
They spent about an hour eating there before leaving.
But the reservation of the parking lots for more than 12 hours left shopkeepers, shoppers and netizens sore.
When journalists asked later about the move to reserve 30 parking lots from the night before, Penang Island City Council mayor Datuk A. Rajendran said it was a “regular practice” to reserve parking lots for VIPs in advance.
He also said cars that had parked in the reserved lots the night before were only towed to another spot along the road and not the city council’s impound.
Before the VIPs left the restaurant, reporters also asked a city councillor about the practice, and he defended the move.
He said when the King patronised Hameediyah Restaurant, parking lots were also reserved for His Majesty.
But when queried if it was apt for a Cabinet minister to be accorded the same privilege as the King, the city councillor declined to respond.
A clothing shopkeeper, who only wanted to be known as Yap, 46, could not hide his unhappiness.
“This is a busy street and known for its limited parking.
“With the entire stretch taken up, how are customers going to reach us?” he asked.
A visitor to Penang, who declined to be named, said he wanted to eat and shop around Lebuh Campbell and expressed annoyance at the difficulty of finding a parking space.
“These VIPs have drivers. Why not just have them drop you off to eat?
“Then, call your drivers when you are finished so they can drive by and pick you up again.
“Maybe, elsewhere with lots of parking spots, you can do it. But not in Lebuh Campbell,” he said.
Later yesterday, Nga issued an apology in a statement, saying he was unaware of the arrangements for his work visit in Lebuh Campbell.
“I apologise if my presence there had inconvenienced the people and the businesses,” he said.
Nga promised to lessen disruptions to the public in future visits.
Earlier, Nga announced over RM200mil in allocations for 41 housing-related projects in Penang.
Penang will get an additional 1,000 units of People’s Housing Project (PPR) within the next five years, to add to the present 999 PPR units, following the RM200mil allocation from the Federal Government.
The minister said the allocation, which was the highest sum awarded to Penang, was the government’s commitment to ensure that no state would be sidelined under the new Malaysia Madani concept.
“This is the largest PPR project allocation for Penang. The state has identified five plots of land for the projects on the island and mainland.
“Once the 1,000 units of PPR are completed, it would double the number of existing units,” he said during a working visit to the town hall in Jalan Padang Kota Lama yesterday.
Nga said the cost to build each unit would be about RM250,000 but they would later be sold to the people at RM45,000 each.
State housing, local government, town and country planning committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said construction of the projects, costing RM100mil each in Jelutong on the island and Kepala Batas on the mainland, was expected to start early next year.
“With this allocation, the next process will be to submit the necessary plans. We hope to get the approval by the end of the year, work to start next year and completion in 2027 or 2028,” he said.
Jagdeep said requests for three more projects had been submitted and under consideration.
Apart from the two PPR projects, a total 39 other projects also received allocations from the ministry.
Among them are RM6.76mil for 22 projects under the Malaysia Home Maintenance Fund and RM2.86mil for seven projects under the Housing Maintenance Programme.
Another nine projects were also allocated RM785,000 for the construction of 45 hawker kiosks and maintenance of two retention ponds in Penang.
The food court in Taman Tun Sardon also received a RM1mil allocation from the ministry for upgrading works.
