Sri Damansara illegal stalls to be relocated

Sri Damansara illegal stalls to be relocated
> Hawkers’ activity poses danger to school children, causes congestion
by Meena L. Ramadas


BANDAR Sri Damansara residents are discomforted by the increasing number of illegal hawkers at Persiaran Meranti just outside SRK Bandar Sri Damasara.

In addition to poor sanitation and hygiene, the stalls are also the cause of traffic congestion along the stretch, which in turn endangers the lives of students of schools in the vicinity, especially during peak periods when school sessions start and end.

Bandar Sri Damansara Residents Association secretary Karen Sharma told theSun the hawkers’ activity has caused increasing congestion at the junction of Persiaran Meranti and several accidents have occurred.

She said the high traffic volume and congestion puts school children in danger as many who live in the neighbourhood walk and cycle to and from school,” she said.

Karen said there are no pathways or sidewalks for the children and to top it off, there are the illegal hawkers who are running their stalls on the fringes of the road.

She said the hawkers, who have been running their businesses for five years, do not have running water. “We also suspect that they are tapping their electricity supply from lamp posts along the road.

“We have complained several times to the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) but so far, nothing has been done to solve the matter,” Karen said.

She said the council’s enforcement officers had broken down the illegal hawker stands seven years ago but the new illegal stalls started sprouting up again two years later.

Karen said the council had offered the hawkers a food court and hawker centre in Sri Damansara 2 but the hawkers declined to move there, citing high rental fees as a problem. “They say they are poor and they have children to feed,” she said.

MBPJ councillor for Bandar Sri Damansara Chan Chee Kong said the council has identified and proposed a plot of land at Persiaran Perdana to relocate the hawkers to and is working to get the necessary approvals.

“The land was allocated to the Selangor Islamic Council (Mais) but according to the land office, the land does not belong to Mais yet,” he said adding that the land still belongs to the state government.

However, Chan said MBPJ has contacted the religious council to get approval to use the land to which they can relocate the illegal hawkers to.

“They (the hawkers) are okay with it,” he said adding that the council met with the hawkers and they agreed to move to the proposed land and even pay rental.

“They did not want to shift to the empty lots in the hawker centre that the council offered because of the location which will affect their business,” he said.

Chan said the council has a difficult task of consolidating enforcement and human compassion when it comes to dealing with illegal hawkers.

“They tell us they are poor and they have families, we cannot just get rid of them, it is more complicated than that,” he said.


Updated: 10:10AM Wed, 19 May 2010