While a small number get back their original renovated lots, many others wait to be delivered from their commercial nightmare.
Confined to an isolated 68-lot hawker centre wedged between Jalan Tun Sambanthan and Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad, their businesses have taken a beating for more than eight months.
“A lot of us suffered over there,” said burger seller V Balasinggam.
Moved there by KL City Hall (DBKL) in early August, he said he found it difficult to hand out 20 buns a day.
Today, however, his business is flourishing. Immediately after shifting to the front of the Kortumalai Pillayar restaurant last week, Balasinggam boasted selling more than 70 buns a day.
“Business is much better now than before we were moved into the hawker centre. My sales have gone up by 40%,” said a beaming Balasinggam.
“Whatever (Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister) Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin promised was delivered exactly as he said,” added Balasinggam.
Not so lucky
However, those still left behind at the hawker centre did not share Balasinggam’s sentiments. Unlike the repatriated eight, many continue to be weighed down by a lack of customers.
Nearly half of the hawkers have closed shop, using their lots only as storage spaces for their cooking utensils.
Built as a temporary space in mid-July, the centre was only meant to house the hawkers for three months, while the rest of the area was transformed into Little India.
Undertaken by Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB), the RM35-million Little India project began in mid-July 2010, and was expected to be completed by October the same year.
The centre also provides an interesting observation: none of the traders have licences, and will only get them when they are moved back to their lots.
Despite their grievances, most of the hawkers were afraid of talking to reporters, fearing retribution from DBKL.
One trader, who wanted to be known only as M, told FMT that he had no idea when he was going to be shifted back to his original stall.
“I don’t know when the government is going to move us back. It’s up to them,” he said, comparing his fate to the hawkers by the Kortumalai Pillayar restaurant.
M also said that he was finding it difficult to make more than RM150 a day, which was barely covering the costs for his shop.
No word from DBKL
In a related matter, the 16 stalls on the sidewalks of Jalan Tun Sambanthan 3 and Jalan Padang Belia have not heard from DBKL since an ill-fated meeting with the city council.
They were to be shifted there as MRCB would renovate the two streets’ sidewalks. DBKL, reportedly irritated by their refusal to move, allegedly threatened the hawkers with eviction.
Hawker representative Arivom Namashivaya said that DBKL had shied from the hawkers since then. It has also refrained from sending any patrols to the two streets, which he found worrying.
“They used to come to the stalls and warned the hawkers that what they were doing was wrong, but now none of them are walking around,” he said.
Arivom said that none of the hawkers’ letters sent months ago to Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Deputy Minister M Saravanan had been replied.
“There has been no mention or an official statement from the government. They should have acted on our complaints accordingly, but they have not,” said Arivom.
He, however, said that Saravanan had visited one or two of the stallowners last month, before telling them that they would be shifted to Jalan Tebing.
Nevertheless, Arivom was concerned by the lack of an official notice from the deputy minister.
Saravanan responds
Commenting on the matter, Saravanan said that he had discussed the fate of the 16 stalls with DBKL and MRCB.
He said that none of the the stalls on the two streets were to be disturbed by DBKL until roadworks – which included enlarging the roads – had been completed in the area.
Asked how long this period would last, Saravanan said that the stalls would be left alone for about a year.
Nevertheless, he announced that the government intended on renovating the stalls themselves. “We are in the process of beautifying the whole of KL,” he said.
Saravanan said that while this process was ongoing, the stallowners would be relocated to a temporary centre similar to the one by Jalan Tun Sambanthan.
He said that his ministry and DBKL were shifting out the remaining hawkers from the 68-lot centre. Some of them used to trade along Lorong Chan Ah Tong.
In a recent visit to the alley, FMT observed that the original line of 22 stalls had been torn down, and were replaced with a new set of MRCB-built lots.
Saravanan said that the lots would be handed over to DBKL on March 30, where they would be fitted with utilities.
Asked on the date that Chan Ah Tong’s traders would return here, the deputy minister hoped for an April date.
He also said that once all the hawkers had been moved out of the Jalan Tun Sambanthan hawker centre, it would most likely be demolished by MRCB.
Saravanan, however, did say on what would be raised in its stead. “It’s their (MRCB) land. It’s up to them to do what they want with it,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment