50,000 vehicles to enter Penang daily during CNY holidays - Police

GEORGE TOWN: An additional 50,000 vehicles are expected to enter Penang each day during the upcoming Chinese New Year festive holidays, police said.

Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said besides those returning home for the Lunar New Year, they also include tourists taking advantage of the long holiday period.

In view of this, he said police expect traffic congestion in several locations in the state, especially in the city and town centres, adding that scheduled monitoring and inspections will be intensified in these areas.

"Seven roads that have been identified to face traffic congestion and also are hotspots in Penang are Jalan Teluk Air Tawar-Jalan Bagan Luar (Seberang Perai Utara), Jalan Perusahaan Perai-Jalan Kulim (Seberang Perai Tengah), Jalan Besar Simpang Empat (KM12-KM32), Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway/Jalan Ayer Itam, Jalan Ayer Itam-Paya Terubong, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah and Jalan Tun Dr Awang," he told reporters after a walkabout at the Jalan Perak market here today.

Mohd Shuhaily had earlier launched the state-level 'Op Selamat 17' that takes effect from today until Feb 6.

He said various police units will be collaborating in Penang police's anti-crime and safe home campaign in conjunction with the festive holidays.

"The focus on Op Selamat this time is to reduce the road accident rate and to ensure unsupervised homes are safe. We have over 6,000 personnel in Penang, we have not frozen leave, but we have limited the number of leave days they can take," he said.

-- BERNAMA