Padungan rep: Is 20 minutes with MBKS Mayor to rectify licence breach issue too much to ask for?

Chong Chieng Jen

KUCHING, Dec 20: The Padungan Season Fruit Market hawkers are simply requesting a 20-minute meeting with the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Mayor to discuss, rectify the alleged “breach” of licence conditions and find ways to comply with the regulations so that they can continue to trade.

“Given that their livelihood is at stake, is it too much to ask of?,” Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen questioned in response to MBKS Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng’s statement urging Chong not to twist facts for the sake of publicity.

Chong, who is also Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman, emphasised the unfairness of unilaterally halting the hawkers’ trade without allowing them to rectify the alleged breach.

“Mayor claimed that the hawkers have breached some licence conditions. But the fact is that the said conditions were not in writing and the hawkers are unaware of what conditions the Mayor has alleged them of breaching. They were also not given any opportunity to rectify the alleged breach.

“The hawkers will do their best to comply with whatever reasonable conditions set by the Council, but, at the very least, they must first be made aware and informed of such conditions,” he said in a statement today.

Chong also denied fact-twisting, arguing that Wee’s response to the hawkers’ issue was self-contradictory and most insensitive to the plights of the hawkers.

Setting the record right, he said neither the Mayor nor MBKS had ever offered the hawkers to be relocated to Tabuan Jaya before the latter’s statement yesterday (Dec 19).

He also addressed a notice requiring the hawkers to remove all sun-tents within 14 days without providing reasons, deeming it insufficient and unreasonable for long-standing traders.

“Thirdly, I did not mention that the Mayor refused to see me. I said that he refused to meet up with the hawkers who have since Dec 5 (date of receipt of the Notice) to Dec 18 been trying to meet up with him to discuss the matter, but to no avail,” he added.

In his letter dated Dec 18, 2023, Chong said he had requested for the Mayor to meet up any time at his convenience but till today, the MBKS office did not even call to fix a time to meet.

Chong emphasised the impact of MBKS’s actions on three families’ livelihoods and questioned the Mayor’s reluctance to spare a short 20 minutes for a meeting over 14 days since Dec 5.

While it may sound easy to the Mayor to just order a relocation, Chong, however, said that it is not so for these hawkers who have traded there for over 10 years with MBKS erected a signboard showcasing the place as “Padungan Seasonal Fruit Market” and collected the licence fee for over a decade.

“The hawkers have their regular customers and tourists patronising their stalls. To suddenly relocate them to Tabuan Jaya will surely be a big disruption to their business and affect their livelihood,” he said.

Responding to the Mayor’s argument over complaints from other fruit vendors having to rent shophouses that are more expensive than the licence fees charged by MBKS at the Fruit Market, Chong hit back that such an argument also holds no water.

“All Council’s licence fees are cheaper than commercial rentals and it is the Council’s duty to provide such affordable licences to allow hawkers to trade in the Council’s jurisdiction,” he said.

He also countered claims about the canopies occupying the entire car park, stating that they only took up a small portion.

For all the issues raised by the Mayor including unsightly canopies, daily removal of canopies and daily licences, Chong said the hawkers are most willing to cooperate with MBKS’ conditions, so long as they are allowed to continue trading at the fruit market.

“That is the very reason why they are asking for a meeting to discuss the matter. We hope that the Mayor will fix a time to meet up and listen to the plights of the hawkers,” he urged. — DayakDaily