Seri Kembangan market relocation postponed to after CNY

The Star/December 29, 2010

ANOTHER year has passed and there seems to be no firm decision on when the Seri Kembangan market will be relocated.

Initially, the market was to be relocated after Chinese New Year in February this year.

Now the authorities claim that the relocation is once again postponed —this time after the 2011 Chinese New Year in February. This latest update was given by Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah.

Crowded: The Seri Kembangan market along SK10/4, Seri Kembangan.

Last year, he was quoted in StarMetro (Countdown for market traders, Dec 30) as saying that “traders at the Seri Kembangan market who were selected for relocation to the new market in Jalan SK6/1 will have to do so after the Chinese New Year”.

Serdang Federation of Associations president Datuk Yap Pian Hon, who visited the new market site, also questioned the relocation delay.

“The postponement was due to the positive response we received for the application of stalls in the new market. The deadline for application was Dec 24,”said Ean Yong.

He said there were about 200 stalls but 400 applications were received.

“Priority will be given to the hawkers at the old market and only the remaining stalls will be given to outsiders.

“About 90% of those asked to relocate have been trading illegally along Jalan Besar, Jalan Panggung and on public roads and the nearby carpark,” he said, adding that an additional 20 stalls were being constructed.

However, with more stalls, will there be enough parking space?

“We have more parking space than the old market,” Ean Yong said but he did not state the exact number of parking bays at the new site.

It is disheartening to know that this decade-long issue has yet to be solved.

The council’s objective for the relocation is to reduce congestion along the main road (Jalan Besar) and to legalise the illegal hawkers who have been there for years.

Due to the postponement of the relocation, vendors are left in a quandary and are unsure if they should renew their licences for next year or wait till further notice.

Kelly Ng, a vendor who has been selling her wares for more than 10 years at the market on Jalan Panggung said: “We did not receive any notice and we are confused and unsure if we should renew our licences. There are many rumours going around. Some say that there are problems not resolved at the new market, hence the delay of the relocation.”

She said there were also threatening rumours that those who did not sign up for a spot at the new market may not have a stall at either the new or old market.

“I will wait till further notice,” Ng said, adding that one of the reasons some vendors were unhappy with the relocation was that they felt it was unfair that only certain hawkers had to relocate, instead of everyone.

“If the authorities want to reduce congestion, why don’t they relocate all the hawkers instead of just those at one half of Jalan Panggung?” she questioned.

Yap was also critical and said the market was unsuitable as the space between the stalls was too narrow.

“It is difficult to walk around the market. Moreover MPSJ, as the local authority in charge, must identify the vendors who are to be relocated and publish the list for transparency,” he said.

When contacted, Ean Yong said a census had been done to ensure that there were different businesses (dry and wet food) at the market.

While the date has been set till after Chinese New Year in 2011, hawkers can only keep their fingers crossed and wait.