Street walkers are not the only ones who are banned in Joo Chiat, the URA has also banned new diners from operating as sit-in restaurants.
Relational Goods was told by URA, which is in charge of issuing dine-in licenses to pack up its tables and chairs in anticipation of increased congestion at the intersection of Joo Chiat Place and Everitt Road.
The place has other popular eateries and restaurants like Fei Fei Wan Tan Mee King and Smokey’s.
In the past, the residents in this area have complained that their driveways have been blocked by cars driven by patrons of these eateries.
To mitigate this problem, the owners of Relational Goods negotiated with the nearby Church to use their parking lots for their customers in order to ease the parking menace in the vicinity.
Despite their efforts, URA did not budge and said that they can only operate as a take-away outlet.
But wouldn’t take-away outlets compound the issue further?
It would only encourage more drivers to park indiscriminately so that they can grab their food on the run.
Where’s the spirit of entrepreneurship that the government is encouraging?