THE business community in Little India, Brickfields, held a protest yesterday 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 have led to a 50% drop in business.
About 150 people were involved in the protest held along Jalan Tun Sambanthan.
Little India Action Committee chairman S. Patha said there were about 500 outlets in the area and ever since the beautification project last year business had dropped.
Making a point: Traders in Little India, Brickfields carrying black flags to protest against the traffic problems in their area. He added that lack of parking and bad traffic management were the two main causes for the poor business.
“The rental has gone up 100% but the business is down 50%. A ground floor shop rental is now RM25,000 compared with RM15,000 before.
“Customers are afraid to come here because of the lack of parking bays. Whatever parking left is often taken up by people who park here to travel to work via the Monorail or LRT.
“Customers find it difficult to find praking bays,” he said.
Patha said the community was also upset that the bus and taxi contra-lane was implemented despite objection from the business community.
“It seems like the authorities do not respect the business community. It has already caused many accidents and what if a bus breaks down one day, it will just worsen the situation,” he said.
He added that the committee would be sending a proposal to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) on how to improve the traffic situation.
“It involves having some multi-storey car parks and a couple of flyovers for smoother traffic flow,” he said.
Also present during the protest were Bukit Bintang MP Fung Kui Lun and Subang MP R. Sivarasa.
Fung said DBKL should study the traffic condition and the people’s needs before starting on the contra lane for buses and taxis.
“They should have also done the socio-economic impact of all the work that has taken place,” he said.
Sivarasa said DBKL should use the money from development charges in the area to rectify the traffic infrastructure in Brickfields.
“The current situation is where accidents are waiting to happen. What DBKL has forgotten is that most important stakeholders in Brickfields are the business community and residents,” he said.
DBKL deputy director-general (planning) Zulkifli Ibrahim said DBKL was monitoring the traffic situation in Brickfields.
“We are going to put up more signs and ask bus and taxi drivers to drive slowly. Our enforcement officers and the police are there every day monitoring the situation,” he said.
Zulkifli also said DBKL had provided alternative parking after implementing the bus and taxi contra-lane.
“To implement the system, we had to clear the lane but we have provided alternative parking,” he said.
He added that he was not aware about the protest staged by the traders.
“This is a new system and people are not used to it now. For now it is good for everyone that is why we implemented it. Maybe in future if there is a better solution we can improve,” he told reporters after launching a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a new four-storey building and multi-purpose hall in SMJK Chong Hwa in Jalan Gombak, representing Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail.
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