About 100 traders yesterday staged a peaceful protest and demanded an explanation from the Selangor government for demolishing stalls they had been operating for 60 years.
All the traders, in Jalan Sekolah 1, Jenjarom, here alleged that their stalls were demolished on Sept 26 on the order of the state government.
A trader, Kay Teng Khoon, 76, said the state government should have given them a suitable compensation and not just a small shop each measuring less than 100 square feet.
“We had been operating on the land where our stalls were located since the British rule, but now our rights for the last four generations were taken away without any suitable compensation.
“We were made to understand that the land is for the use of a school, and we agree. What we want is money or suitable land,” he said when met by reporters at the protest gathering at their old trading site.
All the traders and their family members had gathered peacefully to protest against DAP Telok Datok assemblyman Philip Tan Choon Swee and PKR member of parliament for Kuala Langat Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid who were alleged to have washed off their hands over the issue.
Another trader, Siah Peck Yoke, 53, said at a past meeting, they were promised ownership of the land as they had stayed there for more than 30 years but this remained only a promise.
“I want to know where are all the government people. Are they carrying out their duties or are they sleeping? I want them to answer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Association of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (Ikhlas) president Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah said the association would try to help the traders by bringing the matter to the attention of the prime minister.
– Bernama
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