Federal territories minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said it was disappointing that there were still attempts to sell lots being detected via WhatsApp.
“I have the individual’s phone number and will not hesitate to take stricter action,” she said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Negara today.
She was responding to a question by Senator Hatta Ramli about how the ministry could guarantee that Ramadan bazaar hawker licences around the federal territories would no longer be manipulated by irresponsible parties.
Zaliha said DBKL, which has taken over the full organisation of 40 Ramadan bazaar locations and two for Aidilfitri bazaars, was confident that there would be no manipulation or sale of lots as both management and offering was done directly online to applicants and traders.
“For the lots that are still vacant, applications have been reopened on a first come, first served basis to give traders the opportunity to get a bazaar lot,” she said.
Zaliha said Putrajaya Corporation, which manages four sites, and Labuan Corporation, which has opened two Ramadan bazaar sites, had also said no hawker licences for traders would be manipulated, and that enforcement by corporation officers would be carried out throughout Ramadan.
To Hatta’s additional question on the progress following the move to reduce site rental to RM500, Zaliha said there were traders who had reported that the first day’s business results were enough to return their capital.
“Although we still hear complaints and comments on social media saying that the (selling) price is still the same as the previous year, this low rental price should reduce the Ali Baba phenomenon.
“It also allows traders to sell at competitive prices, although other factors such as the cost of raw materials and profit margins are still the main determinants of the selling price,” she said.
To a supplementary question from Senator Manolan Mohamad on whether Ramadan bazaars had the potential to become a tourism attraction in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2026 and how the government would ensure that they continue to offer traditional food, Zaliha said she believed bazaars could be organised to attract domestic and international tourists.
“Maybe next year we can have a concept of selling traditional food with traditional clothing and so on which we can think of as a tourist attraction in the future.
“In the case of the Ramadan bazaar, we can improve it by having uniform entrance arches and tents with uniform attire for traders, as well as common aprons and caps.
“A clean environment can also be a tourist attraction,” she said.