Padawan Municipal Council breaks promise made to Kampung Bumbok hawkers

By Abdul Aziz Isa

Nearly 25 Bidayuh hawkers along the roadsides at Kampung Bumbok, Jalan Batu Kitang, have requested the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) and its Chairman Lo Khere Chiang, who is also Batu Kitang representative, to withdraw the eviction notice ordering them to vacate their stalls.

Abdul Aziz Isa (holding an eviction notice) and the hawkers are giving a thumb-down to Padawan Municipal Council.

The Bidayuh hawkers there have been selling vegetables as their only source of income for over 20 years. Some of them are single-parents and the only breadwinners of their families which depend on these wooden stalls to earn decent income.

They are afraid that their fate will end up like the hawkers at Satok Sunday Market and Benteng Satok who lost 80% of their business income after their stalls were evicted and moved to Medan Niaga Satok in Kubah.

Upon receiving a call from the hawkers, I immediately came over to better understand their situation.

I was informed by the hawkers that MPP and Lo had a meeting with them on 17 July 2017 regarding the eviction.

After receiving some protests from the hawkers, Lo has agreed and promised them verbally that MPP would not evict their stalls and ensure that the hawkers would stay put.

However, a month later, they were shocked to receive a letter from MPP dated 18 August 2017 notifying them to relocate their business to the Kampung Bumbok Community Centre.

The notice stated that MPP at the Special Full Council Meeting held on the 17 August 2017 had made a unanimous decision on the matter.

The notice also required the hawkers to completely vacate their stalls along the roadsides at Kampung  Bumbok within 30 days from the date they received the letter from MPP, after which the council's appointed contractor would in on 19 September 2017 to carry out the demolition works.

How come Lo has the stomach to break the promises he made verbally with the hawkers?

The reason why the hawkers are against the shift is because the location for the new Kampung Bumbok Community Centre, which is not far from the wooden stalls along the roadside, is not strategic.

It is not convenient for the costumers to park their cars there because it will cause traffic congestion.

The road entering the community centre is too near to the traffic light, therefore,  it poses danger to the roadusers.

Apart from that, the hawkers are reluctant to move  because there is no proper partition separating the halal and non-halal stalls. The reason given by the hawkers is because most of their customers are Muslims.

Those new hawkers who have moved into the long-abandoned the community are selling alcoholic drinks and non-halal food items and this may affect their business if they were to move in.

As such, on behalf of the hawkers, I urge MPP and Lo to withdraw its eviction notice immediately and keep his promises for the sake of the hawkers. - September 2, 2017.

Note: Abdul Aziz Isa is a Special Assistant to Sarawak Pakatan Harapan Chairman  Chong Chieng.