MPP starts operation against illegal traders
KUCHING: Padawan Municipal Council ( MPP) yesterday commenced total enforcement to clean up its area of illegal street hawkers, traders and vendors.
Its deputy chairman Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim warned that the enforcement team would soon move in to places and areas under its jurisdiction to rid them of illegal traders.
“We are coming down hard and legal action will be taken against anyone found to be hawking and trading illegally in the Padawan area,” he told a press conference after a full council meeting at MPP headquarters here.
“We are aware of the unwanted problems caused by illegal trading and the council wants to tackle the problem to improve appearance and cleanliness as well as safety of the streets,” he added.
Those found to have flouted the law will be slapped with a fine between RM50 and RM3,000 depending on the type of offence and progressive offences.
MPP has decided to come down hard on illegal traders following a unanimous decision to fully enforce the by-law at the full council meeting attended by councillors, enforcement team and other relevant parties.
“We have been lenient for too long and they (illegal hawkers) know it is wrong, plus they have been warned many times. We need to enforce the law strictly to ban illegal street trading,” he emphasised.
Places illegal traders have been spotted operating in include Kota Sentosa, Batu Kitang and Batu Kawah.
“There are a lot of them and we can’t even keep track of the numbers. There are the regular ones and also new ones. The area MPP covers is huge - more than 1,000 km,” he said.
Chipping in, councillor Wilfred Yap stressed that the illegal hawkers had been given a lot of opportunities and it was time for everyone to comply with the laws and regulations.
“The council, despite the fact that we might be lacking in our enforcement staff, will still, on a progressive basis, try to identify the various areas, and operations will be done in stages to eradicate this illegal hawking problem,” he added.
On a brighter side, Yap assured that more programmes will be conducted to create more opportunities for people in need to trade in designated areas.
“We will try to secure the funding to provide them a venue to trade. We have in fact identified a space to relocate or place them so it will be announced when things have been finalised,” he said.
With only 18 enforcement officers currently, Ahmad agreed that a bigger team is required to carry out enforcement in more areas with greater efficiency.
He assured that enforcement operations would be ongoing until the illegal trading problem is eradicated once and for all.
On another note, MPP hopes that political parties will not make this a political issue.
“This is for the benefit of the people and the council has been receiving a lot of complaints. So please don’t make this into a political issue. It has nothing to do with that,” Yap urged.
Councillors Akim Sarok and Lau Ting Ping as well as MPP enforcement chief Gorgie Joan were among those present.