By Ling Hui
KUCHING, May 14: Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) Speaker Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohammad Asfia Awang Nassar has rejected a motion filed by Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen yesterday (May 13), which pushed for MBKS to review its decision to cease the trading of a local durian hawker.
Asfia ruled that the motion, though definite, was not urgent and of no public importance, three ingredients of which must all be satisfied by any motion filed under Standing Order 15.
“To succeed under Standing Order 15, three ingredients must be satisfied. One, it must be definite. Two, it must be urgent. Three, it is of public importance.
“The motion (filed by Chong) satisfies only the first ingredient, that is, it is definite. It fails to satisfy the second and third ingredients, that it is urgent and of public importance.
“This motion, therefore, fails. Motion is dismissed,” he said in the august House here today.
Asfia also stated the fact remains that the said hawker was selling fruits without proper and legitimate notice, and it is, therefore, against the Kuching South City Council’s (MBKS) public policy to allow an unlicensed illegal hawker to sell durians at the Padungan Season Fruit Market.
While public interest must be safeguarded and upheld, he said, to condone the illegal practice of selling fruits at the market would flash a wrong signal and trigger widespread illegality, malpractice, and breakdown of MBKS authority to the detriment of public interest.
In any event, the aggrieved hawker has a legal remedy, Asfia said he may apply to the court for a judicial review under Order 53 of the Rules of Court 2012 in order to quash the notice issued on May 10, 2024, to cease trading as a durian hawker, and for an order of mandamus to issue a license to him.
“The period to apply for a judicial review has not expired. The hawker himself must seek this personal remedy. Until he does so, the matter is not considered urgent.
“As a matter of policy, this august House should not encroach on the right of the judiciary, which is rested with powers to review administrative decisions. The doctrine of separation of powers between the executive, judiciary and legislature must be respected,” he added. — DayakDaily
