Market road to be upgraded

Tan Karr Wei
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?sec=central&file=/2011/9/17/central/9484908

THE road where the open air wet market in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, is operating on will be upgraded to a concrete one.

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) engineering department director Cheremi Tarman said Jalan 17/27, which is a tarred road, was not conducive for a wet market because water from the stalls caused the surface to break easily, creating potholes.

“The council will turn the road into a concrete one at a cost of RM170,000,” said Cheremi, who visited the site recently with Petaling Jaya Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian and Bukit Gasing assemblyman Edward Lee to discuss the upgrading work with traders.

The traders have agreed to allow work to start on Sept 19 and they would move their stalls temporarily to the open car park in two phases.

Bad drainage: The road is riddled with potholes and the water is not flowing into the drains.

Fifty-seven traders will move the car park under the first phase and the remaining 66 will move in later when work starts on the second stage.

Section 17 Hawkers Association chairman Lim Keh Seng said the upgrade was timely because the road condition was getting from bad to worse and the drainage system was bad.

Committee member Tan Yew Leong said water from the meat and fish stalls would create pools on the roads.

“Some of the marketgoers have even slipped on the road,” said Tan.

The upgrading work was expected to be completed in three months but Hee urged the council to get the job done earlier to minimise the disruption to the business.

Lee said after the road was upgraded, it was the traders’ responsibility to maintain the cleanliness of the area.

He said there was a proposal to build a waste disposal and recycling centre at the carpark but the project was still pending approval.

Traders were also concerned if they would be charged for operating at the carpark because it was privately-owned.

Cheremi said they had obtained a verbal approval from the landowners and would request for a formal one.

He added that the engineering department would also look into installing proper lighting in the area, which was also used by a night market.