Seberang Prai City Council (MBSP) mayor Datuk Rozali Mohamud recently said that a 500m buffer zone will be created to separate the industrial-scale aquaculture ponds and a coastal mangrove forest at the Kedah-Penang border.

The area to be marked as the Aquaculture Industrial Zone in Penaga, Kepala Batas, has drawn criticism from environmentalists who fear that the project will destroy the natural buffer of the area from natural disasters such as strong wind and tsunami.