Dental faculty, clinic to be set up at old council HQ

THE Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) former headquarters in Butterworth town, which has been lying idle for the last six years, will soon have a new lease of life.

Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) will soon operate a dental faculty and dental clinic at the 43-year-old building located in Jalan Datuk Haji Ahmad Said.

AUCMS president Prof Datuk Dr Zainuddin Wazir said AUCMS had signed a 10-year contract to rent the MPSP former headquarters as well as four other buildings within its compound.

“We will spend between RM10mil to RM15mil to renovate all five buildings over the next few months.

“We hope to begin operations at the dental faculty by October,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Prof Dr Zainuddin said AUCMS was still awaiting the Education Ministry’s final approval for the dental faculty’s layout plan, syllabus as well as student intake.

He said he had applied for 100 dental chairs at the dental clinic, which would be run by the faculty’s lecturers and open to the public.

He said there would also be provision for hostel facilities for students, a canteen and an administrative office at the dental faculty.

“We chose the MPSP former headquarters and its four neighbouring buildings because of its ideal location in the heart of Butterworth town as well as its suitability, in terms of size,” he said.

MPSP president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said AUCMS’ rental of all the five buildings would generate a revenue of RM45,000 to the council every month.

She said the MPSP Butterworth branch office, which presently occupies one of the buildings there, would be shifted to the council hawker centre in Jalan Kampung Jawa, Taman Selat, next to the MPSP municipal court building.

“Part of the hawker centre will be turned into payment counters to facilitate the payment of assessment, business licences, dog licences, hawker stall rental and other bills.

“There will also be a clinic to facilitate inoculation for food handlers there,” she said, adding that the hawkers there hoped to receive more patrons when the counters start operations on July 2. - The Star