Cameron Highlands flower and vegetable traders in a huff over eviction notice

Cameron traders in a huff over eviction notice
By Ivan Loh
Friday September 24, 2010

IPOH: A group of flower and vegetable traders are up in arms following a notice to evict them from their stalls at Kea Farm, Cameron Highlands.

Flower trader Ramli Osman, 49, claimed that he and 17 others had received the eviction notice from the Cameron Highlands district office to make way for a commercial centre and apartments project there on July 29.

"We have been trading there for the past 17 years. It is unfair to ask us to leave abruptly," Ramli told reporters here yesterday.

"They want to relocate us somewhere nearby but that place is not strategic for our businesses."

Ramli said the new site lacked parking space and it was located at a road curve. He claimed that a lorry had crashed into the stalls at the new site last month.

Ramli claimed that the district officer had declined to meet them to discuss the matter.

If the commercial centre project was allowed, Ramli said the traders should each be given a new stall there.

Another trader P. Saraswathy, 40, said they were among the pioneers who have been operating there for 17 years.

"We are worried that our businesses will be affected if we are to move out," she said.

Saraswathy said the traders wanted to meet with the Pahang government, developer and district officer to resolve matters.

Datuk Goh Wan Sing, a director of Signature Landmark Sdn Bhd, the developers, said there were only 14 stalls in the area and most traders had agreed to move out after discussions with the Pahang government.

He added that traders would be provided with new stalls at a nearby site with electricity and water supply and only needed to pay RM150 in monthly rental.

He claimed that only three traders had refused to move and were asking for compensation.

Tanah Rata assemblyman Ho Yip Kap said that all parties involved should discuss the matter again to work out an amicable solution.

He also pointed out that most traders there had trading licences but they did not have permits to operate on government land at Kea Farm. The land is owned by the Pahang government. -- The Star