RM1mil facelift for Chowrasta

RM1mil facelift for Chowrasta

PENANG’s Chowrasta Market, which is well known for its secondhand bookstores, preserved fruits and titbit stalls, will undergo a RM1mil facelift next year.

Komtar assemblyman Ng Wei Aik said the Penang Municipal Council’s licensing, building and engineering departments started a discussion in May for work to be undertaken.

“The discussion also involved Think City Sdn Bhd and Khazanah Nasional Bhd which had helped to recruit a consultant to study the whole building.

“However, the team is still trying to determine whether to upgrade or rebuild the market,” he said after inspecting the cleanliness of the market on Thursday.

Ng added that the discussion was ongoing and hoped the plan would be finalised by November.

“We will try to maintain the building if possible. Even though it is not a heritage building, but it still has its value.

“The new plan will see a restructure of the market to accommodate more traders in the wet market located on the ground floor.

“The first floor will house a dry market while the second may be turned into a place for sports and leisure,” he said.

Ng said the state is also calling on investors to submit their proposals to the state for consideration.

Chowrasta, which means ‘four crossroads’ in Urdu, faces Penang Road and is flanked by Lebuh Tamil, Jalan Chowrasta and Jalan Kuala Kangsar.

The original Chowrasta Market was built in 1890 by the George Town Municipal Council.

Meanwhile, it is now compulsory for all wet market traders to have their own bins instead of just discarding the waste on the floor.

Ng said traders who failed to prepare their own waste bins would be fined RM50 by the council.

“This rule that traders have to have their own bins is listed in their licences.

“I have received many complaints especially from Chowrasta Market traders that council workers have not been cleaning up the market.

“But after my inspection, I realised that many traders, especially the fishmongers and butchers, would just discard the waste on the floor or into the drain,” he said.

Ng added that the council sends 20 workers to clean the market everyday from 6.30am to 10pm.

“They will take turns to clean the floors, drains and surroundings of the market at different times.

“The traders have to be fair and play their part in ensuring the cleanliness of the market,” he said.

Ng said traders who were stubborn and refused to properly manage their waste would risk having their licences suspended by the council’s licensing department.

-News courtesy of The Star-