DBKL confirms protestors not original traders from Danau Kota bazaar
THE STAR
Saturday, 18 Jan 2020
By FARID WAHAB and SHALENNY CARINO
A filepic of Danau Kota Uptown night bazaar which used to be one of the biggest late-night shopping spots in Kuala Lumpur.
ALL 157 people who protested against the relocation of Danau Kota Uptown night bazaar are not the original traders, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) confirmed.
The protestors claimed that they were traders at the original site but a check through DBKL’s census list found no match.
The local authority identified 440 traders in three censuses held last year at the night bazaar in Setapak.
The traders were temporarily moved to a new location called Bazaria Wangsa Maju in Jalan 1/2E Taman Setapak Indah, some 50m away from their previous site.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said the relocation was to solve a number of issues that the traders faced at the original location.
“Prior to the relocation, the traders had to pay a monthly rental to a third party which charged exorbitant fees amounting to RM1,000.
“After relocation, all rental and licence fee payments are made directly to DBKL, ” he said.
Of the total figure, he said 401 paid their rental and licence fees and began operating at the new site on Dec 4 last year.
“Seven traders have yet to make their payments while another 32 are waiting for offer letters from DBKL, ” he disclosed, adding that there were another 60 lots available and that DBKL was in the process of vetting applications.
Khalid was speaking at a press conference in Menara DBKL, Jalan Raja Laut.
On Dec 6, Bernama reported that traders at the new site enjoyed lower licence fee at RM108 annually and cheaper monthly rental of between RM212.70 and RM225.20.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan was quoted by StarMetro on Dec 17 as saying that DBKL waived rental for the traders at the new site for the first three months.
Khalid said some of the traders were found to have rented out their lot to others instead of operating the stalls themselves, with several even renting out to foreigners.
Commenting on allegations that there were traders being threatened by parties who claimed to manage the old site, Khalid advised them to lodge a police report.
It was reported that some 100 people gathered at the new site recently to protest the bazaar’s relocation by DBKL.
A commotion broke out when some protestors hurled verbal abuses at Wangsa Maju MP Datin Paduka Dr Tan Yee Kew during her visit.
Bazaria Wangsa Maju operates daily except on Mondays, from 7pm to 3am.
