'Why is UDA beating about the bush?' - Plaza BB traders

UDA Holdings Bhd (UDA) Chairman, Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani has been described as selfish and only wants to avoid from facing the real issue.

Bukit Bintang Plaza Traders’ Association (BBPTA) Chairman, Hassan Saad, said their stand has always been consistent from the beginning and has openly supported the proposed construction of an MRT station at Plaza BB.

“We have asked UDA to guarantee our business will not be affected during construction works.

“The original plan was to build the MRT station directly below the Plaza BB building. This will require the building to be demolished due to concerns the existing structure which will not be able to accommodate excavation works and tunnel construction works under the building.

“After taking into consideration these problems, a new location had been proposed for the construction of the MRT station and that is below Jalan Bukit Bintang, located in the front of the Plaza BB building,” he said to Astro AWANI, here, today.

On Friday morning, more than 50 Plaza BB tenants held a peaceful protest in front of the UDA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur with the hope that their plight would be taken into consideration.

On Thursday, Hassan claimed UDA had reneged on its promise when they asked the traders to vacate their business premises before the end of this year.

He said, their right to meet and discuss matters with UDA’s top management had also been denied.

However, Johari labelled the Plaza BB traders as selfish to the point they were willing to forsake development plans in the area.

Hassan said, Johari’s statement which said that the traders were not ‘driven out’ conflicted with what had really happened.

“UDA’s erratic and non-consistent stand has made it difficult for us to continue with our business especially after Plaza BB had been surrounded by hoarding and its main route blocked off.

“Our business has fallen sharply with monthly losses of between 40 to 80 percent a month, depending of type of business and its location.

“UDA is only giving out a 10 percent discount from July to September 2012 and a 20 percent discount from October 2012 until today. This discount is much lower than the losses we have suffered,” he said.