Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) refuted claims that they had not engaged with stakeholders in the area about the closure. The closure of Jalan Alor from 6pm to 3am daily was implemented following a discussion with Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.
In a statement, DBKL said the closure was implemented following a meeting in March this year and that it had also engaged with the police, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun’s office and hawker associations from Jalan Alor and Jalan Bukit Bintang.
“DBKL has closed several roads to allow commercial activities to take place, for the convenience of pedestrians and tourists.
“Similar road closures include Jalan Petaling and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman,” said a DBKL spokesperson.
StarMetro had previously reported that while most hawkers and traders in Jalan Alor agreed to the closure, its implementation was not smooth and faced opposition by some business operators in this famous streetfood paradise.
The traders said there were several areas that needed improvement, including placing traffic cones along Jalan Alor to warn pedestrians of oncoming cars from Jalan Rembia.
Motorists travelling along Jalan Rembia have to exit using an access road cutting through Jalan Alor to get to Jalan Bukit Bintang.
DBKL said the road closure did not involve any demolition of structures or stalls, to ensure operations of the hawkers and traders were not affected.
“Also, the closure only comes into effect during operation hours of most hawkers, which is from 6pm to 3am,” the spokesperson said. — By JAROD LIM
