KL Grand Prix: Businesses had to incur 3 to 4-day losses

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has questioned the necessity of hosting the inaugural Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix in the heart of the city that had very much affected businesses in the area over the weekend.
Its executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said it was not fair to businesses that were affected by the event, which took place from Aug 7 to 9, as they had to conform to their losses.
"They had to suffer in silence, there was nothing they could do about it," he said when contacted by theSun today.
He pointed that most businesses had to incur three to four days of losses due to road closures around the golden triangle, saying: "When people are not able to come in to the area, of course their incomes were affected."
Shamsuddin said employers and employees had started feeling the pinch even before the actual event started on Friday, as road closures around the area had started as early as the day before.
The event, which is expected to be an annual affair, has also been a cause of concern for Shamsuddin, as he said it will prove to be hard for the businesses to operate on such basis.
He added that Malaysia is not short of registered racing tracks, like the Sepang International Circuit which has seen major sporting events like the Formula 1 taking place, and questioned why the KL City Grand Prix was not hosted there.
"We have a first class racing track. Might as well we have the event there if it is not being utilised.
"The track in Sepang has all the necessary safety features that are required. They should have just used that circuit (instead of on the roads in the city)," he added.
The event, which concluded on Sunday, saw Direction Racing's Naoki Yokomizo from Japan emerged the overall winner of the cup, with home favourite Fairuz Fauzy from OD Racing coming in a close second.
The Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix 2015 also attracted some 100,000 racing enthusiasts, both locals and foreigners.