Press Statement Nurul Izzah Anwar
7 September 2010
The Ramadhan Bazaar Dilemma – A call for Local Government Elections.
It has come to my knowledge that DBKL had unfairly allocated 93 lots to a selected group of traders affiliated to the dominant political party. Each and every year, DBKL has promised the people that there would be transparency in the allocation of slots. Yet, petty traders are still being sidelined for the benefit of big businesses. It’s well known about the political patronage culture where the middlemen, who were awarded these slots for several hundred ringgit, would then resell them for up to even RM20000. Such exploitation has to stop. The spirit of Ramadhan is to empathize with the unfortunate. The strong has to protect the weak. It is the time of sacrifice and perseverance. The greatest jihad is the fight the tension within oneself, where one will eventually remain victorious – a victory over our essential essence as we celebrate aidil fitri.
Sadly some of those in position of power have forgotten the true meaning of Ramadhan.
Ramadhan provides an opportunity for small and petty traders to make a decent living. In fact, almost 60% of their annual income comes from festive events such as this. These traders are the backbone of our nation. They provide the basic necessities to the people at affordable prices. Rather than getting rewarded accordingly, the small traders are being marginalized and penalized by denying them their rightful allocation while a big textile business owner is getting Bazaar slots at the original low rent for resale. The higher rental that the petty trader has to pay becomes an indirect tax whose cost is passed on to the consumers in terms of higher prices.
In an attempt to verify complaints from the traders, I have requested from DBKL the list of the 460 stalls and 30 associations given slots by DBKL for the Ramadhan bazaar. (Attachment 1) I hope that DBKL will not use the excuse of not releasing the details as it is protected under the Official Secret Act. Could anyone imagine that DBKL would classify this list under the OSA? Does assessing this list of license holders pose a threat to national security? The lack of transparency and accountability in government services is undermining the people’s trust. Therefore, it is an urgent need to have elected representatives in the city council. Hence I reaffirm the call for Local Government Elections.
Nurul Izzah Anwar Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai
