THERE were many street demonstrations and protests throughout the year in Little India Brickfields due to changes in the initial plan.
The RM32mil project’s first phase was completed in record time to welcome India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Oct 27 last year.
Everything began with a single 1Malaysia kiosk that was placed on the walkway near the Sri Paandi Restaurant as a trial run. The kiosks were supposed to help poor Indian traders earn a living.
However, in May the business community was riled up claiming they had no knowledge of the kiosks.
Business owners began questioning the need for the kiosks and said it would threaten their livelihood if the traders sold items similar to their outlets.
Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan said the kiosks were part of the blueprint of Little India and everyone was aware of it since the beginning of the discussions.
Brickfields Business Community Society president Barath Maniam had said that some members were told that if they did not want the kiosks, they would be given to outsiders.
After all the ruckus, the kiosks were taken out never to see the light of day again. Many are asking about the poor Indians left without the means to earn a living at the expense of business owners who already have a steady stream of customers.
Inconvenient: Visually-impaired G. Gunabalan, 56, and Ajong Sidim, 55, (right) walking on the road near Little India Brickfields as the pedestrian walkway is covered by stalls that were licensed by the DBKL. Before the questions on the kiosks were properly answered the Deepavali mood set in at Brickfields. This year was the first time the bazaars were set up after the launch of Little India.
Renovations had increased the size of the walkway leaving a lot of space for more stalls this time around. However, this was not well-received by the blind community.
The new walkway were equipped with tact tiles for the blind but the bazaars were set up on top of the tiles making it difficult for the blind to walk.
The banter between Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the blind was affecting the business and traders blocking the tiles were asked to remove their goods and leave walkway unhindered.
Frustrated traders nearly got into fistcuffs with DBKL enforcement officers during the visit by the local authority officials.
All City Hall could say was they would review the matter next year and maybe even relocate the bazaar to the backlanes but who would be willing to go to the backlanes to shop?
The last but most crucial issue that raised many eyebrows was the contra-flow lane for buses and taxis from the city centre heading towards Taman Seputeh and Bangsar that started on Dec 3.
The lane begins at the intersection of Jalan Tun Sambanthan and Jalan Tun Sambanthan 4 and goes through Little India and heads into Taman Seputeh and Bangsar through Jalan Travers.
The residents along Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad supported the decision to ensure that less traffic goes through the residential part of Brickfields.
On the first day of the contra-flow, a father and his teenage son were injured after being hit by a bus while crossing the road.
They were not aware of the contra-flow system.
The business community, meanwhile, were unhappy that the bus lane cost them the parking bays in front of their shops and the accident sparked outrage among the people.
About 150 people held a protest several days later carrying black flags and shutting their outlets for an hour to show their frustration over the poor traffic management and lack of parking bays which led to a 50% drop in business.
Despite the protest, City Hall has decided to go ahead with the contra-flow lane and requested the people to give the system some time to work.
All these issues are a mere reminder of what is to come next year since many of the problems remain unresolved.
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