Traders affected by market blaze won’t have to move
SEREMBAN: Traders affected by Saturday's massive blaze at the Seremban wet market will not be relocated to the Bukit Kepayang market located about 4km away, says MCA.
Youth chief Datuk Chong Sin Woon said the 327 traders would be moved back to the upper floor of the wet market once repairs were completed.
“In my meeting with the Seremban Municipal Council (MPS), I was told that repairs should be completed between eight and 10 months. Once this is done, the same traders will be moved back into the market. They will not be relocated,” he said at the wet market here.
Talk has been rife that the traders would be relocated to the Bukit Kepayang market after fire destroyed about 80% of the upper floor area of the Seremban wet market.
There were plans to relocate all traders at the wet market here to the Bukit Kepayang market several years ago but the move was shelved after they protested.
Chong said he was told that the council had made plans to upgrade the wet market even before the blaze.
“They had made plans to beautify and turn the wet market into a tourist attraction,” he said, adding that this included having shops selling handicraft.
Chong said MPS had also decided to use the parking area around the wet market to set up temporary business lots for the affected traders after a meeting with their association.
“MPS will start setting up these lots today. The council has also asked all those who wish to continue with their business to register so that they are given their lots,” he said.
Chong said the affected traders would not have to pay any rent until they moved back into the market.
He said repairs would only start after the experts certify the building safe.
“The Fire and Rescue Department and MPS engineers will need at least two weeks before they can tell us if the building is safe,” he said.
Chong said the traders at the ground floor could continue to operate as usual as they were not affected by the blaze.
Earlier, Chong visited SJKC Broga near here to check on preparations for the first day of the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah.
A total of 443,794 candidates are sitting for the UPSR examination nationwide. Of these, 86,949 are in Chinese and 13,686 in Tamil schools.
MPS will start setting up these lots today. The council has also asked all those who wish to continue with their business to register so that they are given their lots. Datuk Chong Sin Woon