GEORGE TOWN: Penang's city status has been restored again by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, 58 years after the country gained independence.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) president Datuk Patahiyah Ismail will become the new mayor of Penang Island City Council (MBPP).

He said the island has consented to the upgrade from MPPP to MBPP effective Jan 1 this year.

"This is historic," he said at a press conference, accompanied by state Local Government, Traffic and Flood Mitigation committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow and Patahiyah in Komtar today.

George Town was the first town in the country to achieve city status when Queen Elizabeth II conferred the status in 1957.

However, when the George Town City Council merged with the Penang Rural District Council to become the MPPP in the 1970s, it lost its city status.

Chow said Patahiyah will receive her appointment letter on March 31 and will be sworn in at Seri Mutiara, the official residence of Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas.

He said Patahiyah will deliver her maiden key note address to all the island's councillors at City Hall in Padang Kota Lama.

The state is organising programmes, including a thanksgiving ceremony and photography contest, to celebrate the restoration of George Town's city status.

With this development, Penang will be the 13th city in the country, following in the footsteps of Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Alor Star, Johor Baru, Malacca City, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Kinabalu, Miri, Kuching North and Kuching South.