PETALING JAYA: The state government has officially changed the names of parts of two key roads in Penang in recognition and appreciation of two prominent state community leaders.
The changes include part of Jalan Ayer Itam to Jalan S.A. Abdullah Bukhari and part of Jalan Tengah to Solok Dato Ismail Hashim, both located in Bayan Lepas.
Penang infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the Kapitan Keling Mosque Committee submitted the proposal for the newly named Jalan S. A. Abdullah Bukhari before it was approved by the State Committee on Geographical Names.
“This renaming is to acknowledge and commemorate Abdullah Bukhari’s contributions to the development of Islam in Penang with his proficiency in lecturing in several languages, including Malay, Tamil and Arabic,” he said in a press conference at George Town on Thursday (June 6).
The proposed road is a 400m stretch between Jalan Scotland and the main Jalan Ayer Itam near Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Al-Mashoor Lelaki.
Zairil said the renaming of part of Jalan Tengah to Solok Dato Ismail Hashim was to honour the contributions of former Bayan Lepas Datuk Ismail Hashim, who served from 1964 to 1974.
“He was a co-founder of Koperasi Tunas Muda, which led the fund collection to acquire land for the development of Kampung Sungai Ara, including building affordable housing for both local Malays and Chinese,” he said.
Zairil noted that the State Executive Council meeting on Feb 28 had approved renaming these two roads and confirmed the decision on March 6.
He added that the changes comply with the Geographical Names Naming Guidelines by the National Committee on Geographical Names 2019.
