KUCHING, March 25: Shopowners, including those in Kota Sentosa Bazaar, are reminded to keep the five-foot way (or ‘kaki lima’ in local Malay) clear from obstructions at all times for the benefit of pedestrians.
They should not flout council rules and regulations by erecting illegal structures along five-foot ways, for instance, said SUPP Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) chief-cum-SUPP Kota Sentosa chairman Wilfred Yap.
“Shopkeepers at Kota Sentosa Bazaar must adhere to the council regulations all the time by making sure that they don’t break the law and create problems for themselves with the local authority,” said Yap, who is also a lawyer, in a statement today.
“Clear five-foot ways can ensure that the public is always safe from passing vehicles, the weather and, perhaps, even rabid dogs, whenever they walk along old shophouses in Kota Sentosa Bazaar.”
Yap said recently, he had received many complaints and requests for his assistance in respect of encroachments onto these walkways through illegal extensions by shop owners and stray rabid dogs.
Relating a story told to him recently, Yap said the concept of five-foot ways was first conceived by Stamford Raffles to keep people safe from rabid dogs on the streets of colonial Singapore.
“Unlikely the story may be, but it could very well be an allegory of the current state of affairs in Sarawak,” he said. — DayakDaily
