Angry food stall operater drives off with MBPP lorry during raid

An angry food stall operator drove off with a Penang Island City Council (MBPP) lorry which was meant to store seized items from his stall, on Thursday night.

In the 8.50pm incident, the man was not happy when several MBPP officers turned up at the row of food stalls on Jalan Bagan Jermal, here, for enforcement operations on illegal stalls, without giving prior warning notice.

Mohammad Haziq Ammar Mohd Hussain, 27, drove off the lorry to the Pulau Tikus Police Station and lodged a police report to avoid the tables and chairs in his stall from being confiscated.

Mohammad Haziq Ammar said he was unhappy with the council staff’s actions as it was the third time they were doing so and one of the reasons he drove off with the lorry was to avoid arguing with them.

He claimed that he had already applied for the licence from MBPP before but it was rejected with various excuses.

Apart from Mohammad Haziq, other food stall operators also expressed their dissatisfaction with MBPP's actions without giving prior notice.

Abdul Muhaimin Mohd Hassan said they do not disrupt traffic and that they cleaned up the area before calling it a day.

“There is no need for MBPP to sweep the area as we leave it clean,” he said.