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The Penang Forum has a list of demands which it calls on Penang’s newly elected officials of 2018 to act upon and deliver.
These demands are related to the three principles of:
GOOD GOVERNANCE
AND STRONG PUBLIC
INSTITUTIONS
- Bring back local elections
- Increase civil society representation in the interim
- PM, CM, and MB focus on holistic role and should
not take on other ministries/portfolios - Limit the terms of office of the PM, CM, and MB to
two consecutive terms - Politicians should not sit on boards of governmentlinked companies
- Immediate gazetting of Local Plans with full public
participation - Start a Penang Youth City Council to develop
projects on issues important to youth. - Encourage youth representation in urban
development planning discourse - Stop swap deals in land reclamation
EQUITABLE SHARING
OF RESOURCES AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
- Adopt a comprehensive approach to housing policy,
prioritising social housing for B40 - Provide affordable housing which is no more than 3
times annual income for M40 - Make public buildings, spaces and transport accessible
for people with disabilities - Fulfill employment and housing quotas for people with
disabilities - Increase the Warga Emas cash handout and target only
the elderly from B40 households. - Upgrade public facilities, council and state flats, to
elderly-friendly universal design. - Update, adopt and implement the 2013 Penang Gender
Policy to achieve gender equality - Enhance gender and leadership training and accelerate
women’s representation in politics - Implement a fair labour policy and provide decent
- housing for migrant workers
- Ratify the 1951 UNHCR Convention
- Support refugees’ access to education, decent
- housing, healthcare and other services
- Reclaimed land should be leasehold
- Ensure public access to waterfront and coastline
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
- Planning approvals and densities should be based on carrying
capacity of the area - Prioritise accessible and integrated public transport over
highway building - Immediate implementation of bus lanes and BRTs
- Improve ferry service and introduce cross-channel rail link instead
of building a tunnel - Stop creating artificial islands through reclamation
- Include climate change in all aspects of planning
- Immediate moratorium on development projects on hill land
- More stringent prosecution of illegal clearing of hill land
- Make urban spaces more spongey to prevent flash floods
- Stop cutting down mangroves, conserve and expand mangrove
area - Work towards joint World Heritage inscription of Pulau Jerejak
and Sungai Buloh - No bridge, no reclamation and no theme park on Pulau Jerejak
- Develop a state urban forestry action plan
- Conserve and increase public open space and greenery
- No cable car and rifle range in the Penang Botanic Gardens
- Gazette the Prangin Canal site as a public park
- Extend heritage protection to heritage sites outside the World
Heritage zone - Develop sustainable and responsible tourism rather than mass
tourism