# Seberang Perai City Council

The Seberang Perai City Council (abbrev. MBSP) is the local government that administers the city of Seberang Perai, which encompasses the mainland half of the Malaysian state of Penang. The city council, which has jurisdiction over an area of 748 km$^2$ (289 sq mi), falls under the purview of the Penang state government.
The Seberang Perai City Council is responsible for urban planning, heritage preservation, public health, sanitation, waste management, traffic management, environmental protection, building control, social and economic development, and general maintenance of urban infrastructure throughout Seberang Perai. The City Tower, located at Bukit Tengah, serves as the headquarters of the city government.

## History

Province Wellesley (now Seberang Perai) was acquired in stages by the British East India Company in the early 19th century. The principal town within Province Wellesley, Butterworth, began to develop sometime in the 1850s.
However, the history of local governance in Seberang Perai only began in earnest towards the end of the 19th century. In 1896, the first Municipal Ordinance was introduced to ensure the smooth administration of Penang's local authorities. Another legislation was passed in 1913, permitting the establishment of three Rural Boards and a Town Board within Province Wellesley.
The four local authorities were:
* Butterworth Town Board
* Province Wellesley North Rural District Board
* Province Wellesley Central Rural District Board
* Province Wellesley South Rural District Board
The evolution of the local governments in Province Wellesley continued in 1952, when the four local boards were upgraded into local councils. These upgrades took effect within the following year. In addition, the Bukit Mertajam Town Council was formed in 1953, thus increasing the total number of local authorities in Province Wellesley to five. The five local authorities at the time were:
* Butterworth Town Council
* Bukit Mertajam Town Council
* Province Wellesley North Rural District Council
* Province Wellesley Central Rural District Council
* Province Wellesley South Rural District Council
In 1961, both the Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam town councils were merged with their surrounding rural councils, the Province Wellesley North and Central rural councils, respectively. From 1973, the remaining three Rural District Councils were temporarily administered by a single local authority, the Board of Management, Local Government of Province Wellesley (Lembaga Pengurusan Kerajaan Tempatan Seberang Perai).
Following the enactment of the Local Government Act 1976, the Board of Management was succeeded by the Municipal Council of Province Wellesley (Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai). At that point, the municipal council's jurisdiction covered an area of over 748 km$^2$ (289 sq mi), encompassing all of Seberang Perai and a few offshore islets, making it the largest municipal council in Malaysia in terms of land size.
From 1976, the Seberang Perai Municipal Council was one of the only two local governments in Penang, alongside the then Penang Island Municipal Council. Seberang Perai was granted city status in 2019.

## List of mayors

| # | Mayor | Term Start | Term End |
| 1 | Rozali Mohamud | 16 September 2019 | 31 December 2021 |
| 2 | Azhar Arshad | 1 January 2022 | 23 June 2024 |
| 3 | Hj Baderul Amin Abdul Hamid | 26 June 2024 | Incumbent |

## Organisation

The City Council is headed by the Mayor, who is assisted by a City Secretary and 24 councillors. The Mayor's term lasts for two years, while each of the 24 councillors is appointed for a one-year term by the Penang state government.
21 of the councillors are selected by the component parties of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition. Of these, ten are appointed by the Democratic Action Party (DAP), nine by the People's Justice Party (PKR), and two each from the National Trust Party (Amanah) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Penang-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are allocated the remaining one councillor positions to allow for the participation in policy-making by Penang's civil societies.
The current mayor of the Seberang Perai City Council is Hj Baderul Amin Abdul Hamid, who assumed office in 2024.

### Councillors

As of January 2025, the councillors of the Seberang Perai City Council are as listed below.
| Councillor | Political affiliation |
| Azman Rahim | PKR |
| Benson Neoh Kah Wei | none (NGO) |
| Bernard Cheen Goon Hooi | DAP |
| David Ng Yee Siang | DAP |
| Derick Chong Wei Hoong | DAP |
| Heng Yeh Shiuan | DAP |
| Jeff Ngoh Cheng Hai | DAP |
| Lim Chee Chien | PKR |
| Lim Eng Nam | PKR |
| Linggeswaran Charmar | DAP |
| Mohamad Aisamuddin Mohamad Kaman | PKR |
| Mohd Noor Ahmad | UMNO |
| Muhamad Suzuki Ahmad | Amanah |
| Nur Aishah Zainol | PKR |
| Omar Haji Abdul Hamid | UMNO |
| Ooi Yong Wooi | DAP |
| Ponnudurai Anthony Srinvasagam | DAP |
| Predeeb Kumar Kalidass | PKR |
| Rachel Teh Chuann Yien | DAP |
| Victor Ng Wai Leong | DAP |
| Yeoh Kim Kim | PKR |
| Zainuddin Mohamed | PKR |
| Zulkiply Ishak | Amanah |
| Zulkifli Md Yusop | PKR |

### Departments

The City Council also comprises the following departments and units.
| Department | Director |
| Building Commissioner | Zulhisyam Abdul |
| Building Department | Noorhanis Noordin |
| Community Relations | Norhayati Sulaiman |
| Corporate and International Relations | Wan Junaidy Yahaya |
| Crisis Management | Mohammad Aidil Samsuri |
| Enforcement Directorate | Nazri Abdul Wahab |
| Engineering | Mohd Syukri Said |
| Finance | Shahrulnizad Abd Razak |
| Health Services | Sujatha R. Saravanan |
| Human Resource Management | Mohd Hairol Man |
| Information Technology and Communication | Abdul Fikri Ridzauudin Abdullah |
| Internal Auditing | Asma Othman |
| Landscape | Shaqhrony Md Yusoff |
| Legal Services | Rosilah Abd Rashid |
| Licensing | Mohd Faidrol Mohd Radzi |
| Management and Human Resources | Siti Haslinda Hasan |
| One Stop Centre | Nurvanida Alisha Sinnappan |
| Security and Community | Amirul Ariff Abdul Rahman |
| Sustainable Development | Normaira Abdul Rahman |
| Technical Compliance and Policy | Mohd Ridzal Abdul |
| Town Planning | Norliza Abdullah |
| Urban Services | Ahmad Zabri Mohamed Sarajudin |
| Valuation and Property Management | Mat Nasir Hassan |

## Public finance

Financial position of the Seberang Perai City Council, 2020 to 2022 :
| | 2020 (RM million) | 2021 (RM million) | 2022 (RM million) |
| Revenue | 258.5 | 304.9 | 315.1 |
| Expenditure | 284.3 | 285.4 | 310.2 |
| Surplus/deficit | -25.8 | 19.5 | 4.9 |