STAKEHOLDERS in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, are questioning the Lestari Niaga@KL (Lestari Niaga) programme, claiming hawker stall upgrades along Jalan Radin Anum are being handled inconsistently.
The initiative aims to upgrade stalls across the Federal Territories and create comfortable trading spaces.
However, operators of 17 stalls along Jalan Radin Anum identified for the programme told StarMetro that Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) execution of the project had been haphazard and unfair.
Asam pedas seller Zazali Ahmad said DBKL took down only two of the five stalls scheduled for phase one demolition on Aug 1.
“DBKL told me the remaining three stalls will not be torn down until October.
“As a result, two hawkers have lost their livelihoods during the upgrades, while three others in the same phase continue to trade. Is this fair?” he asked.
A DBKL notice dated July 17 had originally divided the 17 stalls at Jalan Radin Anum into three demolition phases – the first (five stalls) scheduled from Aug 1 to Sept 30, the second (six stalls) from Sept 1 to Oct 30, and the third (six stalls) from Oct 1 to Nov 30.
Meanwhile, Indian food seller Logeswari Raja said DBKL was flip-flopping with its conditions, in terms of the number of lots each hawker was eligible to apply for.
“We were told that one hawker could apply for two lots, but it was suddenly changed to only one lot per hawker,” she said.
“I asked DBKL whether I could apply for more lots if I found my lot to have insufficient space.
“I was only told not to worry and that DBKL wanted to standardise the size of all lots.”
Echoing the sentiment was western food seller Tam Yu Siong, who claimed that DBKL had been inconsistent with sizes of the trading lots.
“Based on our licences, we should have 3.05m by 9.14m per lot, but based on DBKL’s plan, the actual size we would get is only about 2.44m by 9.14m.
“About 1m will be taken away from us to build a walkway.
“However, we were subsequently told we would receive about 3.66m by 7.32m, which is even smaller,” he said.
The Lestari Niaga programme is also not sitting well with restaurant operators on Jalan Radin Anum, whose premises are located behind the roadside stalls.
Shirley Ramadass said the stalls were blocking her signboard, making it difficult for people to notice her restaurant.
“If I put my signboard higher, DBKL will charge me a higher fee,” she said.
Another operator, Adrian Chong, said the roadside stalls were causing unfair competition in the area.
“Many restaurants here cannot sustain their operations, as the stalls are selling their food cheaper due to their lower operating costs,” he said.
Sri Petaling Residents’ Association chairman Tan Tai Tong urged DBKL to build a multipurpose building on a piece of land on Jalan Radin Bagus 8, which is currently a carpark, and relocate the hawkers there.
“It is unfair for restaurant operators to have their shops blocked from public view.
“The proposed building can include a carpark, hawker centre and even recreational space.”
Tan said the association had proposed this to DBKL many times, but it was rejected without any explanation.
“If the government is spending more than RM500,000 to upgrade one site, why not just relocate the hawkers to a dedicated hawker centre instead?” he said, referring to DBKL’s RM200mil allocation to upgrade 287 hawker sites under Lestari Niaga.
DBKL did not respond to requests for comments at press time.
