Council: Deepavali bazaar stalls not allowed

Compiled by CLARISSA CHUNG, CRYSTAL CHIAM SHIYING and R. ARAVINTHAN

TWENTY-ONE Indian small traders in Nibong Tebal, Penang, who were setting up their stalls for a Deepavali bazaar were shocked when the Seberang Prai Municipal Council ordered them to remove all their stuff, Makkal Osai reported.

Traders said they began putting up the stalls on Friday night for the Deepavali bazaar, just as they had done for the past four years.

The Penang and Northern Region Indian Association, which organised the bazaar, had obtained permission from the police and the district land office for the bazaar, said its president K. Rajasekaran.

Their application was initially turned down by the council, citing loss of business for the shops in the area, but the organisation obtained written statements from shopowners stating that they did not object to the bazaar, he said.

The small traders also agreed not to organise fun fairs or play loud music.

However, despite the intervention of local leaders, the council refused to budge and insisted the stalls and materials brought by the traders be removed from the area.

The affected traders said they stood to lose hundreds of thousands of ringgit as they had invested heavily in buying materials and stock for the festival.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.