GEORGE TOWN, Sept. 22 -- Penang backbencher Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican has called on the state to ensure that traditional villages are not gazetted as urban areas under the state's review of quit rent rates.

The Bertam assemblyman said the review of the boundaries of newly gazetted urban areas should ensure that rural and traditional villages are excluded.

He said the review should take into account existing infrastructure and the socio-economic status of residents.

"The new rates should be adjusted based on the actual development status of the land, not based solely on its gazettement as an urban area," he said in a statement today.

He referred to the state government's decision to expand its urban boundaries by gazettin...