George Town - Police are not leaving anything to chance as the countdown to the New Year begins here, not after the ugly ruckus of Christmas Eve.

Helicopter surveillance has begun and put up blocks have sprouted at roads leading to the four main New Year's Eve countdown venues in the state since last night. It is learnt that over 180,000 revellers are expected to make their way to the Esplanade, Gurney Drive, Queensbay Mall and the Auto-City Juru on the mainland to usher in the New Year.

Penang police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakub said roads to these places might also be closed if necessary.

"The helicopters will fly over the venues to make sure that everything is under control.

"We have about 4,000 policemen in the state. We will try to get as many personnel from every department to be on the ground for the celebration," he said at his office here yesterday.

DCP Ayub warned that Rela personnel, of whom 50 would be deployed at flashpoints in Esplanade and Gurney Drive to help police control the situation, had the right to arrest any rowdy reveller.

On Christmas Eve, a group of rowdy revellers had punched several Rela members and attacked them with helmets. A check by The Star yesterday showed police gearing up for the celebration.

At the closed-circuit television control room in the state headquarters, Penang traffic police operations chief Deputy Supt K. Wari was seen briefing his officers on the locations of the roadblocks and supervising the CCTVs along Gurney Drive.

"We will be keeping a close watch," he said.

Meanwhile, State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang advised revellers to party only until 1am on New Year's Day, adding that after this time, the police would move in with requests to disperse.

He said organisers at the various countdown venues had agreed to the 1am ruling in a meeting with the state government on Tuesday.

"We are expecting more than 180,000 people to converge at these four locations. So, party all you want but it's all over at 1am and it's back to your homes.

"Personnel from the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) will be stationed at the Esplanade as we are expecting 100,000 people there alone.

"The FRU will also be doing their rounds at the three other locations," he said.

Besides the Esplanade, 10,000 people are expected to converge at Gurney Drive, 40,000 at Queensbay Mall and 30,000 in Auto-City Juru. In Kuala Lumpur, crowds are expected to descend in droves on Dataran Merdeka and Bukit Bintang.

With the main roads in these areas - Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Raja - closed to traffic, the services at selected LRT and KL Monorail stations have been extended until 2am. Police have also given out a warning that any car posing an obstruction to traffic on New Year's Eve would be towed away. -- Courtesy of The Star Online