As 2015 draws to a close, we ask some Shah Alam residents what improvements they hope to see in the new year.

Shah Alam might be one of the busiest cities in Selangor, beaming with lucrative business potential, but excessive bureaucracy is putting progress in jeopardy, according to local traders.

Business owner Borhan Sidqi Abdul Rahman said many traders, especially those operating small businesses, lose out because obtaining a trading licence is a nightmare, so have to resort to setting up illegal roadside stalls.

They want to be able to operate their business in a legitimate way but when the process can be complicated and the rules strict, it makes it difficult for these traders.

“I always see lots owned by Shah Alam City Council left vacant. There are also traders who set up stalls without permission because they cannot book the lots in time and the quota was full. The council should do something about this,” he said.

Borhan, who is also the founder of the Shah Alam Residents community group called with more than 50,000 members on Facebook, said that the rising cost of living was a problem particularly affecting the city’s lower-income earners.

The rent here is as high as it is in major areas in Kuala Lumpur. Yet people are earning less for the same job, such as cashiers and pump attendants.

“The government and other organisations resort to giving lower-income earners handouts but the handouts do not help their plight. These people need opportunities to gain income on the side and a great shift in their mind-set,” he added.

Another business owner, Latifah Jamil, who sits on the Selangor Development Board (PKNS) Complex Traders Association as an adviser said that businesses recorded a glaring drop in sales this year, even during festive season.

Shah Alam used to be very lively and sales would shoot up during Hari Raya, in particular. However, this year my business recorded a slump of 50%-70% compared to last year. This has happened to others too.

I find this hard to believe because businesses elsewhere in Selangor are doing very well. Consumers are still very much active but they are not coming to Shah Alam and that is a real problem.

“One of the reasons is the facilities here. Most of our shopping complexes lack parking space and when people park illegally, even during night, they will get summoned and their cars clamped or towed. Meanwhile, the shopping complexes have outdated facilities with no proper promotions to attract customers from outside the city,” she said.

Parking woes seemed to be a problem in residential areas as well, as described by Section 11 Residents’ Association president Datuk Ahmad Osman.

He said that the problem was compounded by a lack of space, while the number of motorists in Shah Alam kept going up.

There is a need for a proper solution to this problem because it is creating a burden on the residents who have to resort to illegal parking because of the lack of space. They are being fined, or having their cars towed or clamped on a regular basis.

At the same time, residents are wary of the crime rate, especially when robberies happen multiple times in a single area. We hope that the police can patrol more in residential areas as a preventative measure.

“In the past couple of months, several houses in my housing area were burgled. The thieves broke in when the houses are empty but none of the neighbours realised what was going on. It is making residents very worried,” he said.

Ahmad also said that there were potholes in the area that had not been attended to for months and put residents at risk of accidents.