Traders, customers want Malacca market to be redeveloped at same site

MALACCA: The traders and customers of the Malacca market in Peringgit here have urged the state government to redevelop the market at the existing site or somewhere close by.

According to them, the area was strategic for a large market because it had become a focal point for the public and was located in the same area as the main transport hub of the state, Melaka Sentral.

Fishmonger Zubir Shariff, 51, said the market was strategically located in the city centre and near the bus and taxi terminals which facilitated the customers.

"If the traders are relocated in a remote area, it will affect our business. Currently, we are doing business under the provided marquees which is affecting our income as the customers are not coming here," he told Bernama here.

The media has reported that the state government had decided to evacuate the 342 traders due to the sinkholes that affected the structure of the market.

Another fishmonger, Mahat Yahya, 58, said he had to bear extra costs when they were instructed to move to the marquees provided in the parking lot of the market because the area was exposed to hot weather which would quickly melt the ice for the fish.

Satay trader Hassan Ibrahim, 53, said his income was severely affected because customers had dwindled due to limited parking space and also the cramped and uncomfortable temporary stall.

"Before this, we could earn between RM300 and RM500 daily but now it's hard to even make RM100," he said.

Muslim food products trader Mohd Zaidi Ismail, 31, said their income had decreased by about 80 per cent since the state government declared the building unsafe.

"The public is afraid to come to the market to buy goods and it affects our income," he said.

Housewife Amnah Othman, 57, from Kampung Morten here urged the state government to solve the problem immediately.

Hashim Othman, 71, from Pokok Mangga said the disorganised temporary market had made it difficult for him and his wife to buy fish, vegetables and meat.

"All the shops are scattered about. We can't find many shops that we used to go to previously. I don't know where they are now. It takes time to find them," he said. — Bernama