Gaya Street Sunday Fair vendors operate at a loss

Lee (left) accompanied Nordin (second right) and Likas assemblyman Tan Lee Fatt inspecting the Gaya Street Sunday Fair to ensure the vendors comply with the SOP.

KOTA KINABALU: The Gaya Street Sunday Fair made a loss after it reopened for the first time last weekend since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced on March 18.

Some 1,000 people had visited the Gaya Street Sunday Fair where only 69 out of the 505 vendors resumed business.

Persatuan Penjaja-Penjaja Jalan Gaya (PPJG) president Lee Chee Kong said the vendors had seen their business dropped drastically by 80 percent.

“The vendors who opened for business on Sunday only earned about 20 percent of their pre-MCO revenue,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Lee said PPJG was allowed to reopen the Sunday Fair after numerous meetings with the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and Sabah Health Department, in full compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOP).

The SOP included having designated entry point where visitors had to undergo temperature checks, registered their names and contact numbers, as well as carrying out disinfection and cleaning of the venue.

“We also rearranged the positions of the stalls.”

Lee said the association had spent around RM1,000 to carry out the preparation works to enable the 69 vendors to reopen their stalls.

He added that PPJG also hired six personnel at a cost of RM50 per person to facilitate the implementation of the SOP.

He said the association only collected RM5 from each of the 69 vendors, which amounted to RM345.

“Our expenses have far exceeded the payments we received,” he said.

Nevertheless, Lee said the shortfall was covered by PPJG as the association’s objective was to look after the welfare of its members.

In addition, he said the association was responsible for ensuring the cleanliness of the Sunday Fair venue.

Any vendors who are found to litter and those who fail to dispose of their own trash after the fair closes will be fined RM10.

“As one can see, Gaya Street has been cleaned up pretty good after the Sunday Fair.”

As for business, Lee admitted that the vendors only made 20 percent of the revenue compared to pre-MCO period.

“Although business has dropped significantly, the vendors are happy to be able to reopen,” he said.

He said the vendors understood the restrictions and had brought along less products for sale than before.

Nonetheless, Lee believed that the traders would be able to overcome these trying times with perseverance and unity.

He disclosed that the association planned to increase the number of visitors from 60 to 120 this coming Sunday, as well as increase the number of stalls by 60 to 129 eventually.

Since the implementation of the MCO on March 18, he said the 505 vendors had not been able to open for business for 10 consecutive Sundays.

He said DBKK had actually allowed the Gaya Street Sunday Fair to resume two weeks ago but there were a lot of factors to be considered, including the standard operating procedures (SOP) and crowd control.

“After many negotiations and meetings, the Sunday Fair finally reopened last weekend,” he said.

He said DBKK had called PPJG for a meeting with Mayor Datuk Nordin Siman and his officers last Wednesday, and the City Hall approved the SOP submitted by the association.

“The association is fully responsible for operating the Sunday Fair, from selecting the vendors among our members to crowd control, disinfection, temperature checks and visitors’ registration.”

Lee said there were 505 vendors at the Gaya Street Sunday Fair, 393 of whom were members of PPJG.

He said the association had allowed members who wanted to operate to register via its WhatsApp group on a first-come-first-served basis.

“Some vendors had arrived at Gaya Street as early as 3am to set up their stalls.

“They started doing business at 5.30am and closed at 1pm,” he said.

Lee added that the association planned to increase the number of stalls by 60 to 129 in the future.

He said more than 10 members have currently registered with the association with hopes that they could reopen for business in the second round.

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