BY R.S.N.MURALI

A view of the damaged supporting beam at Melaka Sentral. – filepic

MALACCA: The state government has set aside RM11mil for a temporary wet market in Bachang here following the evacuation of 342 traders from the current site at Melaka Sentral.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said the temporary market, situated about 1.5km from Melaka Sentral, was easily accessible.

He said RM7mil will be used for the renovation work while the remaining RM4mil for the procurement of the 1.62ha land.

“It would take about four months to complete the setting-up of the temporary market and we are buying the land to avoid problems in the future,” he said after chairing the weekly exco meeting on Wednesday.

Idris said the government was acting fast to resolve the predicament faced by the traders after Melaka Sentral was declared unsafe.

Recently, the Public Works Department Institute (Ikram) issued a notice to Malacca government to immediately vacate the wet market-Melaka Sentral here following the detection of an active underground earth movement.

Ikram’s technical director Md Rozi Shaari said the soil movement has led to severe erosion and cracks on supporting beams of the market that was built in 2004.

He said any repair work at the market would be very costly due to the instability of earth and advised for the market to be moved to another site.

Earlier, Idris had warned that the wet market was on the brink of collapse based on an authorised civil engineering report.

He said the building was already showing signs of deterioration due to sinkage and structural cracks.

On Aug 3, the government ordered an immediate evacuation of all traders.