Economic hub in Johor now a ‘white elephant’

Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE, C.ARUNO and R.ARAVINTAN

ONCE heralded as the next economic hub for local residents, the Dataran Sarang Buaya business centre in Semerah, Johor, has been left deserted just five years after its construction, reported Harian Metro.

The centre, which was constructed to provide nearby roadside stall owners a proper venue to sell food, saw an initial lively crowd. However, it quickly saw a massive dip in customers.

This led to its vendors to close down, leaving the area in a state of eerie silence. Some have even labelled it a white elephant.

A former trader Hafiz Ismail, 37, said he was forced to close his food business after it was not well received.

Having inherited the business from his parents, Hafiz said he was no longer keen to reopen at the centre’s food court for fear of incurring more losses.

“One of the reasons it failed is because the facilities provided were quite minimal. It was also positioned in such a way that was obstructed from the view of motorists from the nearby road.

“I had a good number of customers before it was built, but business turned bad after moving to the food court.

“The narrow dining room, with limited chairs and tables, also made it unpopular.

“My parents eventually told me to let go of the rented stall as they were no longer willing to bear the losses,” he said.

Another former trader, 35-year old Haslindawati Abdul Hamid, whose father had used to operate a roadside stall in the area for over 30 years before the centre’s construction, shared the same view.

“In the past, this area was quite popular, especially at night, but visitors started decreasing.

“The rent is not high, but maybe the customers are just too lazy to go in,” he said.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.