Roadside hawkers at Air Itam market appeal to authorities to allow them to trade again

GEORGE TOWN: For more than one month roadside hawkers at the Air Itam market here have not been able to make a living after the main road was closed to traffic at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, with the situation improving, the affected hawkers have appealed to the relevant authorities, through their local assemblyman Joseph Ng, to open up the stretch and allow them to ply their trade again under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

Spice trader Sam Khoo, whose father has been selling spices at the roadside stall for over 30 years, said they had earned zero income for the past two months.

"This is affecting our livelihood. We have been waiting patiently. We understand the need for the MCO, more so at the height of the pandemic.

"However, we appeal to the authorities to open up the road phase by phase now and allow us to trade. Maybe they can test the situation by doing it slowly, allowing us to gradually open our business. We can arrange our stalls at a distance, and people here understand that they need to stand 1m apart," he said today.

Echoing his sentiment was the Air Itam Market Association chairman Ooi Thean Huat, who said that business at the market had dropped significantly after the closure of the road.

"We understand that they have to control the crowd. Less business is okay as long as everyone is safe.

"Maybe they can partially open the road now for cars to enter to drop people off especially the elderly so that they won't have to walk for about 500m to get to the market," he said.

Following reports of overcrowding at the Air Itam market at the height of the pandemic, authorities had adopted a stricter approach to deal with the problem, with roads at Jalan Air Itam and Jalan Kampung Pisang heading towards the market closed in order to control the crowd and also promote social distancing more effectively.

The Air Itam Market caters to at lest 30,000 people in Air Itam, Air Putih, Farlim and Paya Terubong.

Being the only market to be situated next to the main road, the place is often seen as packed and out of control due to the volume of vehicles passing along the stretch.

Meanwhile, Ng appealed to the authorities to consider the requests by the roadside hawkers.

He suggested the authorities to allow 50 per cent of the stalls to reopen on a rotation basis so that there would not be overcrowding.

"The livelihood of the hawkers has been severely affected due to the road closure and reopening the road will help revive their business.

"Perhaps the road can remain closed during market hours from 6am to noon and reopen thereafter so that those living around the area and Paya Terubong can use this road again," he added.

Covid-19

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