A FIRESTORM ensued at the Federal Territories Ministry last weekend after a video emerged claiming a lack of enforcement against illegal foreign traders outside a wholesale market in Selayang.

       Without interviewing anyone, the voice-over in the video not only claimed that the foreigners were bullying locals, it went on to question if officers in charge had taken bribes.

       Adding more fuel to the fire, the clip also claimed that the problem only began after Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim took over as Federal Territories Minister from his predecessor Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

       According to people close to Shahidan, the video supposedly ticked off the minister so much that he brought the issue up at events he attended.

       To be fair to him, the problem at Pasar Borong Kuala Lumpur did not just begin after he took over as Federal Territories Minister, as was claimed in the video.

       Journalists familiar with the area and the Kuala Lumpur wholesale market know too well that there have always been many foreigners operating illegally just outside the market grounds.

       They could not enter the market proper as it was guarded by DBKL officers, but that did not stop them from operating just outside the compound.

       The problem is even worse outside the Pasar Harian Selayang, which is the regular wet market - also managed by DBKL - located about 2km away, where the site is right on the border with the area under the administration of Selayang Municipal Council in Selangor.

       The video controversy went up a notch when a traders' association held a press conference to defend Shahidan and denounce the allegations in the video.

       A shouting match even ensued between the association spokesman and the videographer from the team that produced the video.

       The association spokesman, who had gained notoriety for his abrasive treatment of media personnel in the past, claimed that the video was a ploy to pit Shahidan against Annuar.

       Meanwhile, some people close to the ministry speculated that it was an attempt to hit at an Umno minister who was seen as not aligned with the "court cluster".

       They said that whoever was behind it was simply using Kuala Lumpur issues as a way to attack Shahidan, although that did not explain the high praise the video gave to Annuar, who had been vocal about working with Muafakat Nasional.

       If mud-slinging a minister was indeed the intention behind it, the flash flood in major roads in the city on Monday would have delivered the perfect blow.

       In response to the video, DBKL released a media statement saying it had confiscated nearly 7,000 items from foreign traders between January and April, compared to the 7,970 items confiscated throughout last year.

       Speculations aside and beyond the video's xenophobic undertone, the clip lasting two minutes and 19 seconds did raise an otherwise valid concern.

       It questioned why it was that DBKL and the Immigration Department were not aware of or taking action against the foreigners illegally trading in the area around the markets.

       The issue is not new one and a solution is long overdue.