Participatory Planning

I was asked to chair the discussion cum briefing session between MBPJ, Hawkers and the Residents Association for the construction of new market and temporary relocation of stalls at Taman Megah, SS24 last Friday. The meeting started at 3pm and finished 5 hours later. The time spent indicated the hectic process for a hot, yet fruitful discussion. At the end of the day, everybody was happy and presumably was satisfied with the outcome.

This is the first time that residents representatives were sit in the discussion between MBPJ and hawkers. Previously, all discussions in regarding of construction of new premises, relocation or even closure of market place were conducted between both parties. This, in time created uneasy situation as the interest of other stakeholders has not taken into consideration and many of the time the parties involved were asking many requests based on their interest and from their own point of view. The outcome, of course is one sided.

While it is nothing wrong for hawkers to request the best deals for themselves, it is unethical if the requests have been done mainly for their own interest without considering the feeling and sentiments of other stakeholders. For example, requesting the temporary closure of a road for a conducive marketing environment at the temporary site without considering the impact on traffic circulation at surrounding area, leaving behind the unmanned stalls at temporary trading site without considering the unsightliness of the town centre etc, to me is uncalled for. Hawkers must bear their corporate social responsibility. They are responsible to the consumers, stakeholders and the environment.

In order to encourage participation, hawkers were empowered to voice their opinions and to make decisions. For instance, they are asked to decide on the number of stalls, to allow or not requests made by their fellow friends on stall allocation, to decide on the date for shifting etc. They felt that their opinions have been given due recognition and they are very much felt part of the process. Empowerment is important for an effective participatory planning. Perhaps MBPJ should start a program to build up the hawkers capacity and let them involve in related matters affecting their livelihood.

Since MBPJ has decided to close entire trading premise if a place is found untidy, dirty and unhygienic, the process for drafting the detail definition and accepted terms and conditions can be participatory in nature. It is critical to involve the hawkers and other stakeholders to formulate an acceptable guidelines and definition on these. It will not help much by having a self-drafted guideline imposing on others, especially the direct parties without any consultation and consensus.

I am optimistic and looking forward for more such constructive consultation sessions with Hawkers.