DBKL stays mum on hawker’s plight

Its officials dodging repeated calls to answer Ahmad Rasheed 's complaint of double standard by its licensing department.

PETALING JAYA: Despite repeated attempts, Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) licensing department has refused to shed light on a complaint made by a hawker in Taman Sri Sentosa.

Last week, Ahmad Rasheed Khan, 54, accused DBKL of practising double standard when it allotted his old site to another person despite applying for the site since 2006.

His old business site was given to one Siti Mariam and she is said to have close ties with DBKL and Umno. She started her operations last month.

Rasheed’s application was rejected on the grounds that the site was a pedestrian walk and it may pose a danger to passers-by.

Adding salt to injury, DBKL enforcement officers seized items from Rasheed’s new stall in an operation on Nov 16 but left Siti Mariam’s stall at the same location intact.

A DBKL official, who claimed anonymity, however, said that there was an error in Siti Mariam’s application with regard to the location of her stall.

“The licence was not issued under Siti Mariam’s name but under a person by the name of Azman Adnan.

“And this person was supposed to operate the stall at another site, not the current one. You have to check with the licensing department,” said the official.

Numerous attempts to contact the licensing department to clarify the matter since Tuesday have failed.