StarMetro’s report on Sept 10.
THE three-session trading system currently practised in People’s Park in Damansara Damai, Petaling Jaya is aimed at resolving the issue of unlicensed traders, says Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
MBPJ Licensing, Business Development and Entrepreneur Department director Sharinaz Samsudin said the system was essential to ensure such hawkers had a spot to operate from.
“We have been practising the concept of trading lot sharing among hawkers since 2017, starting with Jalan PJS 2/18 in Taman Maju Jaya,” she said.
“There are currently seven such trading sites in Petaling Jaya, including the one in People’s Park (also known as Hentian Damai). We plan to introduce another 10 soon.”
In a StarMetro article, “Losing out due to unfair trading time” on Sept 10, it was reported that some hawkers in the park want the current three-session trading system to be reduced to two to ensure everyone gets an equal number of operating hours.
Currently, traders take turns to operate in shifts – either 6am to 10am, 11am to 5pm or 6pm to midnight at People’s Park.
Sharinaz said the current system could also tap into customers’ eating preferences.
“For example, Malaysians usually eat nasi lemak in the morning and pisang goreng in the afternoon,” she said.
“It is quite rare to see people having pisang goreng in the morning.
“The three-session system was created for hawkers to cater their goods to customers’ preferences that vary throughout the day.”
Sharinaz also said the system prevented traders from leaving permanent structures at the site when they were not operating.
“We don’t want traders to permanently occupy spaces allocated to them to prevent them from building illegal structures there.
“MBPJ has taken into consideration hawkers’ needs by allowing them to operate a maximum of two sessions if they wish to have longer business hours.
“Though traders have to pay more for operating two sessions, the charge is minimal.
“It does not cover the cost borne by the city council for cleaning and maintenance works,” she said.
Sharinaz said People’s Park traders were charged RM75 a month for a trading session.
Rental covers utility fees such as water and electricity supply.
Sharinaz added that the traders could also become more competitive by taking part in MBPJ’s free training programme for micro-entrepreneurs.
“The programme will equip them with skills such as digital marketing and Internet of Things (IoT) to further promote their business,” she said, adding that 4,700 participants had taken part since 2022.
While MBPJ currently does not have plans to reduce the number of trading sessions, Sharinaz said the city council was open to discussions on the matter.
