The MPAJ Cover Up (Episode 1)

The odd thing is that the MPAJ council is not interested in pursuing this issue and a cover up is in progress to conceal the details of this subject. No inquiries were initiated and nothing on the MPAJ agenda has been planned to look into this issue. Everything seems Umno-like where it is swept under the carpet.

Hakim Joe

Bazar Larut Malam has been a proposal mulled over by the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) for quite some time back in 2008/9 but was resoundingly rejected by most of the MPAJ council members, as it would create a lot of social issues and security problems to the residents in that area.

MPAJ council representatives from both the DAP and PAS would not condone this proposal and the only supporting votes came from council representatives from PKR. The initial target area was Ampang Waterfront on Jalan Ampang itself, a then new commercial development by Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Ir. Chan Ah Chye of the infamous Talam Corp. Berhad.

Bazar Larut Malam has a pasar malam concept except the operating hours are between 9pm and 2am.

When the proposal was repeatedly rejected by MPAJ, a new proposal was resubmitted whereby the Bazar Larut Malam will be situated in the carparks of the Jelatek Putra LRT Station instead of Ampang Waterfront. Again this proposal was rejected, as this was basically a cosmetic change of venues and the subject in pertinent to the social and security issues are merely transferred from one location to another location and henceforth not addressed. Additionally, the Ampang PDRM was against this proposal as they foresee a lot of problems.

However the Bazar Larut Malam proposal, with conditions, was finally approved in 2010 after constant pressure was applied by the PKR Wanita Chief to approve this proposition as one of the National PKR Wanita activities (in conjunction with MPAJ). YB Zuraida Kamaruddin is also the MP of Ampang Jaya.

One of the conditions is that this approval is on a temporary basis for a period not exceeding three months and should there be constant complaints from the residents of Jelatek or the PDRM, this temporary approval will be rescinded.

Three months led to six months and eventually the Bazar Larut Malam at Jelatek was abandoned after nine months in operations, not because of any social or security issues but for the fact that business was bad and the stall operators were losing money (and sleep)
over it.

As with any pasar malams anywhere in Malaysia, all stall operators must apply for a license to operate their stall in the pasar malam. The respective municipal councils additionally collect a token sum of three Ringgit every time they set up their stalls there and this amount is used to pay the MPAJ cleaners or an independent cleaning company fees to clean up the mess before the next workday. MPAJ itself does not collect this fee but allows the respective Ketua Zon to do so on their behalf.

Let me elaborate. Every municipality is divided into 24 zones and each zone is headed by a Ketua Zon elected by the Municipal Council. Usually these are politically affiliated individuals on their second step up the political ladder (the first being a member of the respective
zones).

The Municipal Council specifically does not allow the Ketua Zon to collect the license fee on their behalf as these applications needs to be processed at the municipal council itself but turns a blind eye when the Ketua Zon does it and pays accordingly.

When the Bazar Larut Malam @ Midnite Jelatek kicked off on the 2nd of October 2010, the MPAJ issued the respective licenses to the stall vendors as per instructions from someone powerful enough to order so, without the collection of any fees. Nobody except YB Zuraida Kamaruddin and the Yang Dipertua (YDP) Dato' Mohammad Yacob, possess the clout to do so as it infringes on the municipal regulations whereby the stall vendors are required to apply for the licenses in person. As the Ketua Zon (Puan Hayati Abd Samad) does not have authority or power to order the Licensing Board of MPAJ to do so, the command must have been issued from either the YB or the YDP.

When the Bazar Larut Malam @ Midnite Jelatek project was abandoned nine months later, the license fees were still outstanding at approximately RM19,000. Here comes the kicker: all the stall vendors say that they have paid their respective license fee, else they would not have been allowed to set up their stalls for a single night let alone for a continuous nine months, but MPAJ says that they have yet to collect a single cent.

The odd thing is that the MPAJ council is not interested in pursuing this issue and a cover up is in progress to conceal the details of this subject. No inquiries were initiated and nothing on the MPAJ agenda has been planned to look into this issue. Everything seems Umno-like where it is swept under the carpet.

Question: Could someone with enough power and authority, within MPAJ or the PKR Selangor State Government, have collected these license fees from the stall vendors on behalf of the MPAJ but has not remitted the monies to them? Should the PKR President, Datin Seri Wan Azizah, personally look into this issue considering the fact that the Selangor PKR Chief is Azmin Ali?