GEORGE TOWN, Nov 10 — Penang hopes to gazette the man-made island located next to the first Penang bridge as soon as next year and develop the area to be a ‘Middle Bank Marine Sanctuary’.

State Environment and Welfare Committee chairman, Phee Boon Poh said the area has the largest seagrass meadow in the country, on top of featuring a vast array of marine life and serving as a feeding ground for various marine creatures.

“This is our commitment to the people to preserve our heritage and we are working towards developing this marine sanctuary.

“The facilities have been done and hopefully Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow will make an official announcement on this plan soon,” he told reporters, here, today.

Last Saturday, it was reported that Chow announced the plan to gazette the area and that he had tasked Phee to lead a team to look into various issues, including the proposed gazettement.

Earlier today, Phee announced that traditional medicine would be a new feature under the PgCare Alliance platform, a collaborative effort between the state government and various non-governmental organisations to assist the people in the areas of mental health, employment, food and shelter as well as financial consultation.

He said upon registration, users would have access to consultations with traditional medicine practitioners.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency