JOHOR BAHRU – More than 200 hawkers and small traders in the Pulai constituency hope that the future elected representative can provide a more conducive business facilities.
Johor Bahru Malay Hawkers, Traders and Small Industry Entrepreneurs Association president Abdullah Md Yusof said some business premises are in dire condition with old dining tables and chairs, faulty fans and lights, causing discomfort to customers.
Abdullah said among the stalls in need of better facilities are the Batu 5 hawker stalls and stalls around Jalan Skudai Batu 4 1/2, Kampung Usaha Jaya which are under the Johor Bahru City Council management.
“The matter should be given priority, any damaged facility should be repaired or upgraded immediately because it not only provides comfort to the mostly low-income hawkers and small traders but also to the customers.
“Good facilities will attract more customers and directly help drive the economy of this group severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he told Bernama here today.
Meanwhile, a banana fritter trader in Taman Dahlia here, Azizah Saadon said that comfortable facilities will attract more local customers as well as those from Singapore, thus bringing them more income.
“Traders like us are now in the recovery phase as we were forced to stop doing business during the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO). So, when there is a comfortable and attractive stall environment, it will attract more customers to stop by to eat or buy food,” she said.
Fellow trader in Tampoi here, Muhamad Zulfikar Kamarudin, 28, said that the small business community relies on elected representatives to protect their interests.
“As traders, we want better drainage system in the area where we do business because some of them are blocked causing a bad smell that puts off customers.
“It’s even worse when it rains heavily, flash floods occur, preventing us from doing business. If I were a customer, I would take my business somewhere clean and has no bad smell,” he said.
The Pulai parliamentary by-election will see a three-way fight between Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Zulkifli Jaafar, Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Suhaizan Kaiat, and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi.- Bernama
