GEORGE TOWN: A DAP lawmaker has urged the local council to halt a landscape upgrading project at the historical College Avenue field pending further discussions with residents in the area.
Pulau Tikus assemblyman Yap Soo Huey said she only found out that the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) was working on the field yesterday.
“My immediate reaction was to ask MBPP to send me details of what it intended to do.
“In seeing the plans, I suggested that they immediately halt work, until we can sit down together to see if we can provide a better park for families, young and old in the area, in a way that is not MBPP’s usual sledgehammer method,” she said in a statement posted on her Facebook account.
Yap is currently overseas on a holiday.
She also shared her fond memories of the field, as she used to live near the area, adding that her family had previously lived in Festival Court (now Adventist Court), at the junction of Persiaran Midlands and Lebuhraya Maktab, from 1987 to 1996, before moving to the area behind the Pulau Tikus Market due to the construction of the Midlands One Stop Centre.
“When I was staying at Festival Court, I used to walk across the field to school nearby.
“I’ve spent much time waiting for friends, jumping hurdles and practising athletics on the field,” she said.
She even shared that when her grandmother used went to the hair saloon, she would have to sit and wait for her at the field.
“After Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Pulau Tikus, I continued on to Sekolah Menengah Convent Pulau Tikus and had netball and athletics training there.
“I now still continue to frequent the area, so I know the field and the community well. I appreciate how urban and community parks can function so much better with some help from a good city council.
“However, my view is that pulling out the grass is a waste and I think there are certainly skill sets and knowledge that need to be improved in MBPP,” she said.
She also assured the residents in the area that they would “make good” or she would protest with the residents “until good is done”.
It was reported that residents in the area had objected to the project.
The residents had also formed a resident committee and submitted a letter to the MBPP, objecting to the project, which saw the grass of the field dug up for a supposed concrete jogging track.
The residents have also started an online petition which has garnered about 700 signatures to date.