BUKIT MERTAJAM: The Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) will fully enforce the ban on hawking activities within 40 metres of school fences throughout Seberang Perai starting next year.
MBSP Mayor Datuk Baderul Amin Abdul Hamid said the implementation was in line with the Guidelines for Hawking Outside School Fences issued by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) to ensure the safety of students, smooth traffic and food hygiene.
“The measure was taken following feedback and complaints received from schools and parents regarding hawking activities outside school gates, particularly involving the sale of unhealthy food and drinks, food hygiene aspects and student safety issues.
“Comprehensive enforcement will be implemented starting next year, but until the end of this year we will focus on education, advocacy and voluntary compliance before legal action is taken against hawkers who still fail to comply,” he said at a press conference at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar Baru Perda, here, today.
He said that among the initiatives implemented by MBSP included the installation of signs prohibiting hawking within 40 metres of the school fence, the distribution of information leaflets to hawkers, engagement sessions with the school and local community, as well as regular monitoring by enforcement officers and environmental health officers.
Baderul Amin said MBSP also introduced a hawker tracking permit system or “tagging” to record, identify and manage hawking activities in permitted locations more systematically, especially after the implementation of the ban.
He said that so far, a total of 554 hawkers have registered under the tagging system and of that total, 194 hawkers have completed the process.
“The tagging system, which costs RM60 a month, aims to help hawkers operate more systematically in permitted areas while also facilitating monitoring by local authorities,” he said.
He said there were 241 schools throughout Seberang Perai and on average around 10 hawkers were doing business around each school, but the actual number was difficult to determine because most of them operated irregularly.
He said that MBSP’s approach is not solely based on enforcement, but rather aims to find a balanced solution between the economic interests of hawkers and the need to create a safe and conducive school environment.
— BERNAMA
