Old PJ hawker centres need rejuvenation, enforcement

FOOD courts under Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), especially those located in the older parts of the city, are rundown and its facilities are in need of repairs.

A survey by StarMetro found many stalls either closed or misused. Some have become offices for insurance and travel agents, and some are electrical appliance repair shops.

Several factors have contributed to this state of affairs.

At Gerai Medan Selera Jalan 12 in Taman Dato’ Harun, for example, fruit seller Ramlah Basirun said unlicensed food trucks were partly to blame.

“Competition from illegal hawkers has affected our business very badly. I have to throw away unsold fruit when I have no customers,” the 69-year-old said.

“Most stalls do not want to operate because there are very few customers. Some choose to operate at night or on weekends.

“I hope MBPJ will encourage illegal operators to move into the food courts. Otherwise, law-abiding traders like me will lose out. Many of the illegal traders are foreigners.”

Making the situation worse is the fact that there are only 10 parking bays for the Jalan 12 food court and nothing is done to stop motorists from occupying bays the whole day.

When StarMetro checked MBPJ’s website to see how many stalls were available for rent at Gerai Medan Selera Jalan 12, only one spot was available.

However, during a visit on a Thursday afternoon, only eight out of the 26 stalls were open.

At Gerai SUK PJS 2C/12 in Taman Medan Cahaya, only eight out of 35 stalls were operating when StarMetro visited on a Thursday afternoon.

However, MBPJ’s website gives the impression that there are just two available units for rent.

At Gerai Selera Jati in Jalan 1/12, only six out of 19 stalls were open on a Monday at lunch hour.

Gerai SUK PJS 2C/12 in Taman Medan Cahaya has 35 stalls but only eight food stalls are in business during StarMetro’s visit on a Thursday afternoon.

A stall operator who wanted to remain anonymous said business at Gerai Selera Jati had declined due to bad hygiene and the property’s dreary conditions.

There were stray cats roaming around freely, the place smelled bad and the floor was dirty.

The walls were also in need of a new coat of paint.

The Old Town food court near Jalan Othman market is also in deplorable condition.

Broken wall and floor tiles were noticeable and its floor could do with thorough cleaning.

At Gerai Taman Selera in Jalan Othman, some operators have spread their business beyond the perimeter of their stalls and are obstructing the customers’ path.

Some traders also placed tables and chairs for personal use in front of unoccupied stalls.

Only half of the stalls in the food court were operational.

Former Petaling Jaya mayor Mohamad Azhan Md Amir had said about plans to revamp food courts, but details were still being finalised.

MBPJ councillor Terence Tan said there were problems related to food courts in terms of “missing” tenants.

“There are clear rules. For example, after being issued more than three warning letters, the stall owner’s tenancy is terminated and then applications are open to interested parties.

“We allow stall owners to take medical leave but no other reason is accepted when a stall is closed,” he said.

Tan said stall vacancies were updated monthly on the city council’s website.

“We also have cases where these stalls are used as store rooms or sublet to third parties.

“Such stall owners will see their contracts terminated”

Section 1B RT chairman Kok Kuan Tong said pricing at council-run food courts were a turn-off for many customers and this could be the main reason for the decline in customers.

“Rental at council-run food courts is cheap. You can’t find low rental of RM100 or RM200 in the city.

“Yet, these traders price their food like those of restaurants with air conditioning. The council must investigate this.”

Section 6 Petaling Jaya RT chairman Rajesh Mansukhlal said MBPJ should hold a town hall session with residents and businessmen on what they want from food courts.

“If MBPJ plans to rebuild some of these food courts, it must be certain of community needs to avoid creating white elephants,” he said.

“If there are only a few stalls open at one spot, then merge them.

“We have many council food courts in PJ Old Town due to demand in the past when there were more factory workers in the area. We need to keep up with the times,” added Rajesh.