Mohd Najwan (fourth, left) and Norhisham (third, left) with traders during the Ramadan permit handover event at MBSA Convention Centre in Shah Alam. — Bernama
MUSLIMS in Selangor will have plenty of options to buy food for breaking fast during Ramadan, despite a slight drop in the number of bazaar sites this year compared to 2024.
State youth, sports and entrepreneurship committee chairman Mohd Najwan Halimi said the state was setting up 244 bazaars, involving nearly 16,000 trading lots, including 26 bazaars and 1,300 lots in Shah Alam.
Last year, there were 264 Ramadan bazaar sites throughout the state, involving 16,693 lots.
“These numbers reflect the Selangor government’s effort to uplift petty traders and boost entrepreneurship in the state,” Mohd Najwan said after attending the 2025 Ramadan Bazaar Kits and Permits handover ceremony at the MBSA Convention Centre in Shah Alam.
He also said Selangor’s local authorities would step up checks to ensure traders did not rent out their Ramadan bazaar permits to third parties.
“Those who obtained a permit must operate the stall themselves. This is important to prevent monopolies,” he added.
The event also featured a briefing by Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) for traders on maintaining cleanliness as well as conditions attached to their permits.
MBSA acting deputy secretary Norhisham Mohammad said the city council would continue the My Save Food@Ramadan Bazaar programme this year.
Launched in 2021, the initiative allowed Ramadan bazaar traders to drop unsold food at designated spots to be distributed to the needy.
Norhisham said it would be carried out at five bazaars in Shah Alam – sections 13, 17, 19, 28 and U16 – and would run between March 4 and 20, during weekdays.
Last year, MBSA collected more than 7,000kg of unsold food from the initiative, which was distributed to orphanages, as well as mosques and surau in the city.
Meanwhile, MBSA in a statement, said it was working with Agrobank to encourage Ramadan bazaar traders to adopt cashless payments.
“Via this initiative, Agrobank has agreed to donate tents to participating traders provided they open a bank account with a minimum of RM50.
“Five bazaars have been selected for this programme, namely those in sections 2, 13, Alam Budiman U10, Denai Alam U16 and Hijrah Selangor in Section 35,” it stated.
The event also saw the launch of the Shah Alam Petty Traders Masterplan 2025-2030.
