An overview of the compound of a food court in Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur which is operating illegally. - LEW GUAN XI/The Star
STRICTER enforcement needs to be taken against an illegal food court in Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur advisory board member Andre Lai is urging Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif and DBKL’s top management to revisit this issue.
“The mayor has vowed to make Kuala Lumpur a liveable and loveable city.
“This cannot be achieved when such illegal activities persist,” he said in reference to the illegal food court.
A letter by Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur Lands and Mines Office on March 1 ordered the food court’s owner to vacate the site following the discontinuation of its operating licence.
Lai said despite the notice, the food court continued to operate.
“We have set precedents in our previous enforcement operations such as the one at Jalan Sultan.
“If we can enforce in Chinatown, I am sure we can do the same in Desa Sri Hartamas.”
In a StarMetro article titled “Locals stew over illegal food court” on Oct 24, it was reported that the food court’s operating licence had been terminated by DBKL due to the lack of a building permit and poor hygiene conditions.
The food court reportedly did not have proper public health infrastructure such as grease traps, filtration and drainage systems.
There have been talks about the food court being turned into a multi-storey carpark, with one floor reserved for the existing hawkers, according to the report.
After the report was published, authorities including Indah Water Konsortium (IWK), National Water Services Commission (SPAN) and DBKL visited the food court.
In a statement to StarMetro, IWK said its inspections revealed that the food court’s drainage system was impacted by significant amounts of fats, oils and grease (FOG).
“IWK conducted three visits and clearing services on a manhole near the food court in late October,” it said.
However, excessive FOG could still be found in the grease trap, the cleanliness of which, IWK said, was the food court owner’s responsibility to maintain.
IWK said it had informed DBKL about the matter and the local authority had since carried out a follow-up visit.
Meanwhile, SPAN, which visited the food court with IWK, found no sewerage issues.
“SPAN also did not detect any bad odour as stated by complainants because only a few stalls were operating in the morning,” it said in a statement.
SPAN added that it had requested IWK to continue monitoring the food court.
DBKL has yet to respond to queries.
