RM30 mln loans for Chinese hawkers

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KOTA KINABALU: The government will launch a RM30 million fund to provide loans for Chinese hawkers nationwide on April 2.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mah Siew Keong, who oversees hawkers’ associations, said the fund is aimed to assist hawkers, especially petty traders who did not have supporting documents to take loan from banks.

He said there were many medium and small financing schemes for hawkers, but petty traders were unable to apply for the loans.

“We plan to roll out the fund in April. We will announce the amount of loan offered and interest rate at that time,” he said after a walkabout at Lido Square here yesterday.

He assured that the loan facility would be provided for hawkers in Sabah as well.

Mah, who is also Gerakan president, was accompanied by Gerakan vice president Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, Sabah Gerakan chairman Datuk Gordon Leong, Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) president Datuk Seri Panglima Dr T.C. Goh, MCA Penampang chairman Datuk Paul Kong, Sabah Gerakan vice treasurer cum publicity chief Kong Yu Kiong, Persatuan Penjaja-Penjaja Lido (Perlido) chairman Lee Seng Wah, Perlido deputy chairman Kapitan Chong Kiam Fah and Perlido secretary Yong Wei Kiong.

Mah reported that there were one million registered hawkers nationwide, of which 200,000 were Chinese. The real number of hawkers, including unregistered ones, is believed to exceed the amount, he said.

On Lido Square that is owned and managed by Goh’s company, Mah said the former had done a good job in renovating and managing the market.

“I think the hawkers in Sabah are doing well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lee urged the government not to neglect East Malaysia when the fund was introduced.

He said Mah had previously allocated RM200,000 in total to around 70 constituent members under the Federation of Hawkers and Petty Traders Association Malaysia, including Perlido which received RM2,000.

Lee also thanked Mah for visiting Lido Square personally to gain an understanding of the hawkers’ operations in the market.

There are currently 230 hawkers registered with Perlido.