Lonely at the top: A sundry goods trader waiting for customers that are hard to come by at the market complex in Paya Terubong, Penang. — Photos: LIM BENG TATT/The Star
The three-year-old Paya Terubong complex in Penang has a host of issues to be addressed to improve its appeal among locals who prefer to throng other wet markets.
THE RM8mil Paya Terubong market complex in George Town, Penang, which opened three years ago to cater to more than 100,000 residents is not serving its purpose.
Locals are continuing to shy away from the market.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) is pointing to the complex’s inaccessibility as the cause but traders say locals prefer going to other wet markets.
Fishmonger Tan Gaik Hong, 60, said many people shopped at the roadside Ayer Itam market or Bandar Baru wet market.
“Initially, there were three fishmongers here but I am the only one left as the other two have gone to the Bandar Baru market to trade.
“Business is quite bad here.
“I cannot sell even five kilogrammes of fish daily from 8.30am to 11.30am in the last three years,” she said.
Gaik Hong added that her business was a lot better when she traded along the main road before moving into the complex.
The three-storey complex has a wet market on the ground floor, stalls selling clothes and household products on the next level, and a food court as well as hall on the top floor.
There are 111 wet and dry stalls on the ground floor, which are mostly empty, and 64 lots occupying the second and third floors.
The complex has three storeys with ample parking space on the ground floor, but few people especially senior citizens are keen to climb up the stairs to the upper floors.
Chicken seller Norshikah Chek Pin, 42, said people would only visit the complex when there was an urgent need.
“They don’t come here to buy their weekly provisions.
“They only come here specifically for certain things that they want for that one day, which may include fish, chicken or vegetables.
“I don’t blame them as there are no varieties here. Seafood and vegetables are also cheaper at the Ayer Itam market because of the competition over there,” she said.
Norshikah said she could sell about 70 birds during the fasting month.
Vegetable trader Tan Lee Mooi, 54, said there were only a handful of people visiting her stall from 7am to noon.
Most of the time, vegetables would end up in the refrigerator, she said.
“It has been three years and the situation has not improved.
“There are no new traders taking up the empty stalls, while the present ones are contemplating on leaving soon,” she added.
Sundry stall owner K. Muthurakoo, 57, used to order RM600 worth of bread daily from suppliers but had reduced it to RM100 due to poor demand.
“My business was better when I was operating a stall near the Paya Terubong bus-stop,” she said.
MBPP councillor Tan Soo Siang said a permanent solution was needed at a higher level to solve the issues faced by traders at the market complex.
“There is a host of issues including structural defects when the complex was built.
“The drainage system was poor and basic facilities were lacking,” she said.
Soo Siang said some senior citizens opted to take a bus to the Ayer Itam market because the Paya Terubong market was located on high ground, forcing them to climb a flight of steps to enter the market.
“A proposal for a private company to take over the management of the market did not materialise as there were no takers, so we are handling the issues on an ad hoc basis,” she added.
State executive councillor and Paya Terubong assemblyman Yeoh Soon Hin could not be reached for comment.
