DBKL urged to review hawker free trade zone programme

KUALA LUMPUR: Obstructing pedestrians, disrupting traffic, filthy conditions and obscuring the view are among the public complaints regarding hawkers doing business in inappropriate locations, including along sidewalks and parking lots around the federal capital.

Senior lecturer at the Urban and Regional Planning Department, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Dr S. Gobi Krishna, said the Free Trade Zone (Wilayah Bebas Berniaga, WBB) initiative needed to be executed with proper planning and adequate monitoring.

The WBB programme was introduced in November 2020 to enable the people to conduct small business in suitable areas in the three federal territories.

“Initially, it was a good initiative to help improve the economy of the people who were affected by Covid-19. However, traffic volume was low during that period due to the implementation of the movement control order and the work from home policy.

“At present, I think it is no longer appropriate. More careful planning needs to be done because it also raises various social issues (such as) the misuse of pedestrian walkways that inconvenience users, especially people with disabilities,” he said.

In a statement, City Hall said it intended to relocate traders operating under WBB initiative either to hawker centres or market buildings it owns.