A dedicated task force under Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has been formed to oversee the management of Ramadaan bazaars in the city next year.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif said the taskforce would look into managing all 65 Ramadan bazaar locations.
"With this task force, we will see how to best deal with this challenge," she told reporters after attending the engagement session on the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13) of the Federal Territory at a hotel in Putrajaya on Thursday evening (Oct 24).
Maimunah was commenting on the DBKL's recent announcement that it would manage the evening markets directly without going through the petty trader's associations.
On Oct 21, DBKL announced it would begin managing Ramadan bazaars directly without going through a middleman.
This was after a statement issued by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa, in response to the Deepavali bazaar controversy in Brickfields, following a viral video showing several traders being upset when they were not allowed to operate there.
Dr Zaliha said checks revealed that the association managing the bazaar had offered more lots than the number permitted by DBKL.
Maimunah said the task force will comprise various DBKL departments, namely licensing, enforcement, engineering and planning.
The RMK13 engagement session was first held in Selangor, followed by the Federal Territories on Thursday evening.
In her speech, Deputy Economy Minister Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib said the engagement session would continue by involving all states in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak until the end of December this year to get views and input in drawing up RMK13.
She said it involved talks with not only the state government but also the industries, academia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the public, and various stakeholders.
