By Wong Pek Mei | The Star Online
Temporary licences will be issued to food truck operators in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya from this month.
Federal Territories Ministry deputy secretary-general (management and socio-economic) Datuk Nor’ Aini Abdul Wahab acknowledged there was a demand for the service.
“Even though we set up centres for them to conduct their business, some were illegally operating on the streets,” she said in explaining the rationale for the decision, in an interview at her office in Putrajaya.
Nor’ Aini said the licence issued by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Putrajaya Corporation would be known as a “mobile licence” and was different from a trader’s licence.
“If petty traders want to go into the food truck business, they would need to apply for this new temporary licence,” she said, adding that the food trucks were allowed to conduct their business in two locations in Kuala Lumpur – Jalan Dungun and Jalan Tengah in Damansara.
“In Putrajaya, we have allocated Precinct 2. They can only operate in these areas and not anywhere they want,” Nor’ Aini said.
She said the authorities were in the process of streamlining guidelines for the food truck business.
“We hope to complete it by the end of the year and issue them with permanent licences,” she said.
She added the ministry, through DBKL, would be giving a RM10,000 grant for operators to purchase a caravan for their food truck business but it was limited to 50 units.
Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had announced plans to relocate roadside hawkers into food courts in the city.
The plan also involved giving the hawkers trucks to run their businesses.
