Regarding the authorities’ response letter, ‘New resolution over industrial site in the works: BEDB’, I want to highlight the importance of engaging with key stakeholders, which are the tenants on the proposal, and how to help those who are on the verge of closing shop due to revoked licences.
Since 2016, the Tanjong Kajar industrial site members have been constantly engaging with the authorities to reach a resolution.
However, the demands from the authorities are not holistic and sustainable for those of us, who developed the area out of our pockets.
We have sounded the alarm that the rental fees that were proposed by the authorities would wipe us out, as the nature of our business requires high space utilisation for bulky plants, machinery and stockpiles, but low in revenue.
Despite many discussions with the authorities, we were met with backlash while they advised us on how to run our brick-and-mortar operations, such as downsizing the plants and stockpiles.
Limiting our capacity will affect the revenue. Coupled with the already-hefty rental, sustainability of our businesses is shaky at best.
We have called for an all-party dialogue for years but it has fallen on deaf ears. The issues dragged on for so long that the business licences were revoked due to the absence of land lease. As such, I would like to call on the authorities to consider future engagements to involve all relevant stakeholders.
Miserable Contractor
