Rakyat diutamakan, and 74 traders in Jalan Masjid India lose their stalls

Rakyat diutamakan?

Looks like it's also happening in the City of Kuala Lumpur. They wrote to the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry and the Prime Minister’s office, yet no one hears the complaint. Then, suddenly, these traders are losing their stalls. I wonder whether we need to boost up more manpower in these two offices.

3 September 2010

74 traders in Jalan Masjid India lose their stalls

By FAZLEENA AZIZ
fazleena@thestar.com.my

SEVENTY-four traders operating illegally at Jalan Masjid India were told to dismantle their lots and move out by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement officers yesterday afternoon.

DBKL deputy director (services) Datuk Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said the traders were trading on spots that were meant as shelter for the blind.

“We have already given them notices to remove their stalls and had allocated a space at Pasar Seni for them instead,’’ he said.

Amin added that DBKL had given the Federal Territory Malay Hawkers and Small Traders Association a total of 1,600 lots in various areas in Kuala Lumpur.

On Wednesday the Federal Territory Malay Hawkers and Small Traders Association staged a protest in Jalan Bunus over the Ramadan bazaar lot allocation, which they claimed favoured some undeserving individuals and overlooking the real traders of Masjid India.

They also said that despite writing to the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister and the Prime Minister’s office, their plight had gone unheard.

He said 109 lots had been given to big companies while another 20 allocated for the disabled were also not given.

He added that the lots were meant for small traders and hawkers.

He said the traders just asked for a small space, which was still available but the authorities did not heed their requests.

Trader Halim Suradi, 36, said he had been doing business for the past 15 years but the past two years had been the hardest as his applications had been rejected.