Brickfields Indian hawkers face eviction threat by UMNO’s DBKL

(FreeMalaysiaToday)

After plying their trade for more than 20 years, Brickfields hawkers were told to pack off to another place. But where?

KUALA LUMPUR: Brickfields hawkers have been threatened with eviction by KL City Hall (DBKL) if they do not make way for urban development.

With 16 stalls on the sidewalks of Jalan Tun Sambanthan 3 and Jalan Padang Belia, some of them have been there for more than 20 years. All of them also have valid licences.

Hawker representative Arivom Namashivaya told FMT that DBKL had surprised the hawkers on the night of Dec 9 last year, with a letter informing them of a meeting the very next day.

At the meeting, they met with DBKL officials and Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) contractors, who told them that their stalls were in the way of a sidewalk renewal project.

The renewal plan was part of the Little India project, initiated by MRCB in mid-2010. DBKL told the hawkers that they were to move their businesses elsewhere, and suggested a few places for relocation.

Arivom said that one of these areas was along Jalan Tebing, near the Tun Sambanthan Monorail station.

Right next to the Klang River and hidden behind condominiums, Jalan Tebing would also put the hawkers more than 100 metres away from their original locations.

Arivom also said that DBKL had already made up its mind, and was adamant in getting the hawkers to move out.

He added that DBKL justified the action as a means to improve traffic flow. In response, Arivom asked if the Jalan Tun Sambanthan traffic reversal system had actually helped.

Once a two-way street, Jalan Tun Sambanthan is now a one-way road. The change annoyed local traders, causing many to complain of a massive drop in business.

“I then asked them (DBKL): Why did you call us now when you have already made the decision?” Arivom said.

Unfortunately, his queries did not sit well with DBKL Small Hawkers Management Department director Ibrahim Yusof.

According to Arivom, Yusof allegedly told the hawkers: “The minister (of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing, Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin) will pull back your licences if you do not leave.”

Angered but unfazed by the threat, Arivom replied: “If you do that, then we will choose another minister during the next general election.”

In a trip to the area, FMT noticed that many of the sidewalks unoccupied by stalls had already been earmarked for the sidewalk renewal project.

Convenience stall owner Omar Firdaus Kumar Abdullah told FMT that MRCB’s work stopped short of the stalls operating on the sidewalks.

“MRCB can’t renew the sidewalks because of the stalls around here,” he said at his stall along Jalan Tun Sambanthan 3.

Omar said that if DBKL wanted them to move, it needed to provide proper hawker infrastructure for them.

He told FMT that he had to build his current stall of 14 years without DBKL help, and had relied on relatives as well as other hawkers for assistance.

If the hawkers were moved to Jalan Tebing, Omar said he would need to start over from scratch. “We would have to find our own water, electricity and location,” he added.

“They have to build a nice shop for us. If they do that, then we don’t mind. Just don’t build like the one at Jalan Chan Ah Tong,” he added.

In mid-2010, many hawkers who plied their trade near the Jalan Travers-Jalan Tun Sambanthan junction were forced to move to a temporary centre along Jalan Chan Ah Tong.

They then were promised by the government that they would only reside there for about three months. In the meantime, MRCB would transform that corner of Brickfields into Little India.

Although the area has been sufficiently developed, none of the hawkers have been allowed to return to their original locations yet. Many of them have suffered heavy losses as a result.

Another hawker who only wanted to be known as Eddy told FMT that he had no problems with the sidewalk renewal plan, but opposed relocation.

“I don’t have a problem with beautifying the pavements. They want us to move, but to where? Where can we go? There isn’t anywhere else to go,” Eddy said

He added that there were no places left in Brickfields for the hawkers to go to, and that any shift would take them away from their regular customers.

“This is not a logical decision. We will lose our regular customers if we move to a new place. If they smash our shops, we want compensation,” he said.

Echoing Eddy’s wishes, Arivom told FMT that the hawkers preferred not to move.

He also added that DBKL may have regarded the stalls as an eyesore to the area, and did not see the locals flocking to the stalls daily.

“They think that they should do away with all these stalls. They don’t see the positive side to them,” Arivom said.

In a letter to Raja Nong Chik, Arivom agreed to letting MRCB beautify the sidewalks, as long as the stalls were kept safe.

In doing so, the hawkers would agree to close their stalls for a week, while MRCB did its job. “It’s a win-win suggestion. If they accept it, that will be a very big relief,” he said.

Arivom also said that it was very unlikely for DBKL to smash the stalls along Jalan Tun Sambanthan 3 and Jalan Padang Belia.

“They won’t be that harsh. They won’t do that. If they did that, it would be a fatal move,” he said.

Arivom also raised the matter with Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Deputy Minister M Saravanan, who informed the representative that he would bring it up with DBKL.

Although he said that DBKL had not harrassed the hawkers over relocation, Arivom added that subsequent meetings with City Hall were not friendly.

FMT also learnt that none of the hawkers had been served with written eviction notices yet. Even so, the hawkers here have admitted that the fight for their livelihood was not on their side.

Said Omar: “Nothing has been finalised yet, but they will go through with this.”

“Nothing can be worked out with them. They already have the plan for this place,” he said, pointing to the multi-billion ringgit KL Sentral development undertaken by MRCB.

“Personally I don’t want to move. Everybody doesn’t want to move. But, they are indirectly forcing us out, so now we don’t have an excuse.”