Associations oppose 'free trade area' in KL for petty traders

PETALING JAYA (Nov 12): Six associations have jointly urged the Ministry of Federal Territories (FT) to review and reconsider the ‘free trade area’ in KL for petty traders, as announced by FT Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa on Tuesday (Nov 10).

“We are totally bewildered and baffled at the news that Kuala Lumpur will become a ‘free trade area’ to ‘trade and sell anything for six months’,” said the joint media statement today.

The six associations are Malaysia Shopping Malls Association (PPK), Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA), SME Association of Malaysia, Batu Road Retailers Association (BARRA) and Building Management Association of Malaysia (BMAM).

The associations pointed out that a sudden mushrooming of new petty traders will add to the risk of forming new Covid-19 clusters. This is especially so as informal food hawkers would likely have lower hygiene standards. They might also create pest and rodent infestation problems as well as traffic congestion.

In addition to this, with many petty traders located right in front of shops, visitors’ access to these shops will be blocked. “These informal businesses would handicap those formal licensed businesses housed in licensed premises which have all the safety, health and hygiene infrastructure,” they added.

The associations argued that the FT Ministry’s decision will create unfair competition, as the petty traders would only pay none or limited nominal license fees, while the formal businesses have to bear annual fees for a multitude of licenses and permits.

Moreover, formal businesses also pay sales and service tax, income tax, quit rent, assessments and so on that add significantly to the cost of doing business, in contrast to the petty traders and hawkers.

Furthermore, the associations are worried that such ‘temporary’ petty traders will eventually become permanent, despite the stipulated period of six months. “Based on past experience, the authorities may not have the will nor ability to dismantle them,” they said.

“We support the ministry's intention for a ‘quick-fix’ to address the critical unemployment situation and loss of livelihood, but we advocate that appropriate controls need to be in place, to be complemented by more efficient and hassle-free processes and approvals,” the associations said.

They have proposed for the authorities to identify appropriate locations for temporary petty trading or utilise some of the abandoned premises for this purpose.

“These locations should have a large expanse of land for proper parking. These temporary petty trading clusters could be in open spaces. The petty traders should not occupy roadside, off-street, verandah or in the vicinity of shops and shopping centres so as not to disrupt their businesses,” the associations noted.

The associations urge for a review of the FT ministry’s decision such that the measure will not hurt the formal licensed permanent businesses housed in licensed premises, or disrupt the conducive living conditions of residents and cause danger to traffic flow and congestion.

They also hope that the authorities will have the firm conviction and political will to ensure the "six-month period" is abided by and not to allow these temporary setups to become permanent.

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