Online system to break bazaar ‘cartels’
KUALA LUMPUR: Online application is the only way for traders to secure business spots in bazaars in the city.
This is what the City Hall is proposing the Kuala Lumpur to break the age-old monopoly of bazaar “cartels” securing lots and subletting them at cutthroat prices, some of which may have operated under the cover of traders associations.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said this would be the general rule for festive markets to stop trading rings from preying on traders.
“This (online application) is what we aim for. This year will be a trial run and hopefully, everything runs smoothly.
“We want to break the monopoly of cartels, so that traders can get a fair deal,” he said after the TRX City common estate signing ceremony here yesterday.
Khalid said in some extreme cases, a trading lot that had gone through Ali Baba hands could go as high as RM30,000 when City Hall issued the licence for between RM400 and RM500 per lot.
“It goes through a few people. ‘A’ will rent it out to ‘B’ and so on and so forth. The final price that ‘D’ pays is RM30,000.”
Khalid said through online application, the authority could identify those eligible for special consideration, such as the disabled and single parents.
“I leave it to Mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan to decide on the quota of such lots.”
He said the plan to make Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman a pedestrian zone was “very controversial and a work in progress”.
He said the decision did not come without due diligence.
“This is not something that was done at the spur of the moment. It is closely associated with the River of Life project, as well as the traffic, public transport and pedestrian master plans that we have worked on.
“You can see that the area (Jalan TAR) was transformed and is still being transformed. We have cut the four-lane road to two to widen the walkway.”
He said City Hall was finalising the designs for the stretch and assured the public that the infrastructure would be upgraded to handle possible changes to Jalan TAR.
On the possibility of allowing GrabCar drivers ply the road when a traffic system has been established, Khalid said he would look into it.
He said City Hall was also having talks with Batu Road Retailers’ Association (Barra) and Masjid India Business Owners Association (Miba) to fine tune the proposal.
He said the traders in Jalan TAR would get a better picture of the proposal when they knew more details about the plans.
“I have made some suggestions to Barra and Miba and they are not opposed to them.”
Khalid said he agreed with the traders that private vehicles should be banned in Lorong TAR and Lorong Gombak for the pedestrian mall to be implemented.
On protests from petty traders’ associations, Khalid said it was in the process of revamping the present system, where a small group of people controlled the lots.
Khalid said the authority would continue to discuss the matter with stakeholders.