The traders had been operating by the roadside of Jalan Mak Mandin for the past 30 years. They held a protest at the cleared area in the afternoon.

The Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) bulldozed the stalls to make way for a road expansion project at 1pm.

The traders’ spokesperson, Abdul Nazier Abdul Razak, 52, claimed they had been operating legally with licences given to them by the MPSP.

Checks showed that eight of the 14 stalls were operating with a licence from the council.

Nazier said the stalls had been around even before the industrial area was built in the 1980s.

“There is no compensation, not even an offer to build us a new stall, or even a place at a food court,” he told reporters.

Nazier said the MPSP had ordered the 14 stall holders to ship out yesterday, adding that they had only received the notice “very recently”.

Nazier said attempts to speak with their state assemblyman, Lim Hock Seng, had failed. He claimed Hock Seng had not come to meet them over the issue.

He added that the traders had demanded compensation of at least RM25,000 each.

Drinks stall owner Mazenah Abdul Rahman, 68, said she wanted to meet her MP, Lim Guan Eng, to solve the issue amicably.

“Maybe Guan Eng can help?” she said. Guan Eng is Bagan MP and Penang chief minister.

When contacted, Hock Seng, who is state executive councillor for public works, said the traders were operating on state land.

He said they had been allowed to carry out their businesses since there were no plans to expand the road for the past 40 years.

But the traders now had to sacrifice their spot as the roadworks would pave the way for an affordable housing project, he said.

“The Penang government had allowed these traders to operate on the land owned by the district land office, despite not having a temporary occupation licence for so many years,” he said when contacted.

Hock Seng added that although some of them had operated with valid MPSP licences, they were considered illegal as they were on state land.

He said claims that he had not met the traders were not true.

“I met them three times. Once at the district land office, at Jalan Mak Mandin and my service centre in town,” he said.