GEORGE TOWN: Pig farms at Kampung Selamat in Tasek Gelugor, Seberang Perai Utara, are being converted to a closed-farm system, the Penang government said.
Local government, town and country planning committee chairman H’ng Mooi Lye said the conversion from open-air farms is being carried out in stages.
“It (the conversion) will take three to five years,” he told reporters after handing over contributions to missionary schools at Komtar here today.
Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state government has imposed licensing conditions compelling pig farms to adopt a closed system.
Another condition requires pig farms to treat waste before discharging it.
Hundreds of residents at Kampung Selamat staged a protest last Saturday against pig farming in the area, which they said was polluting Sungai Kereh.
They said the farms had been operating there for more than 40 years, causing foul smell and affecting their rice crops.
Chow also said the state government had been working with several green technology firms to treat farm waste through “waste-to-energy” (WTE) projects at pig farms operating at Kampung Selamat and Kampung Valdor in Jawi.
He said the project proved successful at Kampung Valdor, but the results of the pilot project at Kampung Selamat were unsatisfactory.
“The state has decided that since the Kampung Valdor project was a success, we will ask the same company to set up WTE facilities at farms in Kampung Selamat as well.
“I hope this will be the perfect solution for Penang. We had odour and gas pollution at Kampung Valdor before this, and we have resolved it,” he said.
