KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Obstructing pedestrians, disrupting traffic, filthy conditions, and obscuring the view are among the public complaints regarding hawkers doing business in inappropriate locations, including sidewalks and parking lots around the federal capital.
A check by Bernama in several locations like Sentul and Setiawangsa found that such activities not only caused traffic congestion but also disrupted public facilities such as bus stops.
A private sector employee, Nurul Syahirah Muhamad, 20, said the presence of stalls and customers’ vehicles on the roadside prevented buses from stopping at the designated area, making it hard for commuters to board the public transport.
“Having to walk a distance is such an inconvenience to us, and there is also a risk of being hit by other vehicles, especially motorcycles,” she said.
A resident of Taman Setiawangsa here, Muhammad Farid Abdul Wahab, 31, said the traders who conduct business in pedestrian areas also cause several other problems, such as odour pollution.
Muhammad Farid said they tend to throw used cooking oil into nearby drains causing the water to stagnate and emit an unpleasant smell, and this would later become Aedes mosquito breeding grounds, thus giving rise to dengue fever and other diseases.
“In addition, the pedestrian area gets dirty from the cooking and oil, which will certainly increase the cost for the local authority to restore the area,” he said while urging Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to be more stern.
Meanwhile, Lee Xi Yee, 25, is of the opinion that the roadside stalls not only disrupt public facilities but also affect the image of Kuala Lumpur as the federal capital, thus giving a bad impression to tourists.
“It portrays the country as one with a third-class mentality when we should be moving forward,” she said.
Meanwhile, senior lecturer at the Urban and Regional Planning Department, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Dr S Gobi Krishna, said the misuse of pedestrian walkways not only inconveniences users, especially people with disabilities but is also a safety hazard as people are forced to walk on the busy roads.
“Even though the community welcomes this effort because it provides them with the option of buying food quickly and at a reasonable price, it affected traffic in the area, especially during peak hours from 5pm to 7pm,” he told Bernama.
Gobi Krishna said that among the areas seen to be experiencing the situation are Desa Pandan, Jalan Raja Muda Musa, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Wangsa Maju and around Brickfields.
He is of the view that the Wilayah Bebas Berniaga (WBB) initiative, which is seen as contributing to the ‘freedom’, also needs to be executed with proper planning and adequate monitoring.
“Initially, it was a good initiative to help improve the economy of the people who were greatly affected by Covid-19. However, traffic volume was low at the time due to the implementation of the Movement Control Order and the work-from-home policy.
“In the current situation, I think it is no longer appropriate to implement (the WBB initiative). More careful planning needs to be done because it also raises various social issues,” he said.
Gobi Krishna said the authority should identify proper locations for the initiative to ensure smooth traffic flow and no disruption to emergency responders, including ambulances and firefighters.
He also called for a clear standard operating procedure and standardised tents to make it easier for all quarters to identify hawkers with permission and licence.
— Bernama
