History
A Committee of Assessors was established in George Town in 1801, and was the first local authority established in Malaya. In 1857, local government in George Town was placed in the hands of five Municipal Commissioners, three of whom were elected by a limited franchise, but these elections were abolished in 1913.
In 1951, as part of the move towards independence for Malaya, the British colonial authorities reintroduced local elections of nine of the fifteen municipal commissioners for George Town. Other municipal councils in Malaya followed shortly thereafter, with Kuala Lumpur holding its first local elections the year after. By 1956, George Town had become the first municipality in the Federation of Malaya to have a fully elected council, with Cllr G. H. Goh (Alliance) as its first President.
On 1 January 1957, George Town became a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the first town in the Federation of Malaya to become a city, and the only city in Malaya/Malaysia until Kuala Lumpur was granted city status in 1972. The first Mayor of George Town was Cllr D. S. Ramanathan (Labour).
In 1965, the federal Government suspended local elections as a result of the Indonesian Confrontation. The City Council was at the time the richest local authority in the country, with annual revenue almost double that of the Penang state government. In response to allegations of maladministration and misconduct, a Royal Commission of Enquiry was set up and the functions of the City Council were temporarily transferred to the Chief Minister of Penang by the City Council of George Town (Transfer of Functions) Order 1966. A Royal Commission of Enquiry into set up by the Federal Government under Senator Athi Nahappan, reporting in 1968, recommended the restoration of elected local councils, but this was never carried out. The remaining local authorities in Penang, including the Penang Rural District Council, were taken over by the state government in 1971.
Following the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act 1973, two Local Government Management Boards (Lembaga Pengurus Kerajaan Tempatan) were established in 1974 for Penang Island and Province Wellesley. Following the passing of the Local Government Act 1976, which provided for non-elected local councils, local council areas in Penang were permanently merged into the two municipal councils of Penang Island (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang) and Province Wellesley (Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai).
Read more about this topic: Municipal Council Of Penang Island
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