25 trading days meant to ‘help poor hawkers’
SIBU: Hawkers trading in areas under the jurisdiction of Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) are expected to trade for at least 25 days a month as stipulated in the council’s guidelines for them.
Council’s deputy chairman Dato Andrew Wong said they should apply for leave of absence in writing if they could not turn up for trade.
He told a press conference yesterday that the feedback from some hawkers was that 25 days could be a bit tough to comply.
“However, SMC would like to state that the primary purpose of SMC issuing hawker licences at a very low and subsidized rate is to alleviate the poverty level of the poor or very low-income group,” Wong said.
He said he took it that those who needed to trade for fewer than 25 days were on a better financial standing than ordinary office workers who needed to work for five and-a-half days a week.
“I’ve also noted that most hawkers are on half- day trade,” he lamented.
Wong said the council could understand the need for holidays, like on festivals, sick leave, vacation and replenishment of stock.
He advised hawkers to let the council know their regular trading hours to facilitate attendance taking.
He also reminded hawkers that their trading licence did not permit them to engage in wholesale business, rent out their stalls or let others trade at their stalls.
To those who no longer need the licence, Wong advised them to return the licence to the council, saying there was no such thing as transfer of licences.
Meanwhile, the deputy chairman said the council had started to accept applications for trading licences since last week.
“Priority is given to the financially disadvantaged families.
“Depending on the availability of vacancies, some applications may have to put on waiting list,” he said.
However, SMC would like to state that the primary purpose of SMC issuing hawker licenses at a very low and subsidized rate is to alleviate the poverty level of the poor or very low-income group. Dato Andrew Wong, SMC deputy chairman