GEORGE TOWN, August 3 – Penang International Airport (PIA) management called out to take immediate action against its poor hygiene standards that are unbefitting for an international airport. Penang State Executive Councillor for Tourism and Creative Economy YB Yeoh Soon Hin in a statement today urged that the airport management to conduct routine checks on its infrastructure and smart gates to ensure that these basic airport amenities are user-friendly.
The hygiene standard and cleanliness of the airport is substandard at the moment, on the account of overloaded garbage cans, dirty boarding bridges, unhygienic toilets and more. This is unacceptable and inadequate for an international airport, he said. According to Yeoh, the airport authorities informed that they are in the process of switching cleaning contractors. Nonetheless, a short-term solution must be implemented in this period of transition to address the deteriorating standards of cleanliness, he added.
Yeoh emphasized that the airport plays a pivotal role in shaping the first impression of the destination. Imagine waiting to board a plane in an unpleasant airport environment or seeing rubbish scattered around the airport as you step out of the cabin. It doesn’t get better with the outdated basic facilities, all of which will lead tourists to assume that the city is underdeveloped,” he added.
Yeoh also expressed disappointment based on his personal encounters spotting uncleaned trash cans and bad toilet hygiene, of which were also similarly raised by many netizens across social media platforms. He wishes the relevant departments could take immediate action to remedy the poor management of airport cleanliness, such as making the public spaces and toilet clean, as well as making sure that that the smart gates are functioning as usual.
The Penang State Government have been actively promoting tourism initiatives to attract local and foreign visitors. We have even formulated various marketing strategies with a wide range of tourism stakeholders such as international airlines, travel agencies, etc. The poor handling of the airport hygiene will stain its reputation and hamper all the efforts of the state government, he added.
