The Kompleks Makanan Persiaran Gurney has completed a RM455,055 upgrade funded by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), roughly 40 years after the food complex opened. Works ran for five months this year, from 1 May to 30 September, and were handled by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), Penang Property Talk reported.
The job covered a new steel structure and roof, translucent roof panels and ventilation blinds. Drainage, electrical systems and lighting were also reworked, while the complex near Gurney Bay Phase 2 gained large ceiling fans, a washing area and grease traps.
Traders and diners now have 26 sets of tables and seating, along with uniform signboards for its 12 stalls. The site off Persiaran Gurney is also known as Astaka Persiaran Gurney.
Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid said the works were needed to keep the premises clean and fit for both vendors and visitors. “As a food paradise, Penang needs to make sure food complexes and food courts are clean and well managed, so that visitors have confidence in the quality of the food and the surroundings where they eat,” she said, as quoted by Buletin Mutiara, the Penang state government’s news portal.
Pulau Tikus assemblyman Joshue Woo Sze Zeng said the project carried forward joint work between the federal government, the state government and MBPP on public facilities and small traders. “This project proves that cooperation between the federal government, the state government and the local government can bring direct benefit to the people, especially small traders,” he said.
Earlier rounds of the same cooperation paid for a RM500,000 upgrade of Pulau Tikus Market about three years ago and improvements to the Kampung Sireh food complex last year. The Persiaran Gurney complex went up in 1985 and had not seen a large-scale refurbishment until this project.
For visitors, the changes mean a more orderly dining area under a covered roof. For traders, they mean better drainage, lighting and washing facilities to run a stall day to day.
Penang leans on its hawker food as a tourism draw, and older markets and food courts across the island have been reworked along the same lines in recent years. The complex sits beside Gurney Bay, a waterfront park being built out in phases.
