Street vendors sell fruits and vegetables at a ’makeshift’ market on Dong Tac Street, Dong Da district (Photo: VNA/VNS)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Ambitious plans to establish designated areas
for street vendors in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have yet to materialise,
months after a “sidewalk clean-up” campaign fuelled debates over the future of
street vendors.
In HCM City, after the clean up campaign reached its peak in February and March
this year, authorities in some districts eagerly put forward plans for ‘vendor
streets’ where street vendors could do business in an orderly manner.
A proposal submitted to the city’s People’s Committee by District 1 designated
the sidewalks of Nguyen Van Chiem and Chu Manh Trinh streets and Bach Tung Diep
Park for this purpose. These places are said to have spacious pavements with
room for both vendors’ businesses and vehicle parking.
Stools, tables and umbrellas for street restaurants would also be provided to
avoid obstructing pedestrians, according to the proposal.
In a meeting with city leaders, Chairman of the District 1 People’s Committee
expressed his high hope for the plan as a solution to restore public order on
pavements and ensure the livelihoods of poor labourers.
District 3 also planned to designate Le Ngo Cat, Ngo Thoi Nhiem and Ho Xuan Huong
streets as walking streets and places open for vendor activity in specific
hours. However, nearly four months later, no such vendor street exists.
Speaking to the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper, a street-food
vendor in Bach Tung Diep Park in District 1 said: “I only heard about the plan
through the media. We haven’t been informed by authorities.”
According to the Economic Affairs Division of District 1, vendor streets were
initially planned to be launched in the second quarter of this year. However,
thus far, it is unclear when these streets will open.
Explaining the delay, Doan Ngoc Hai, vice chairman of the district People’s
Committee told the Thanh Nien that because the designated areas are
in the city centre, the organisation needs to prepare thoroughly and collect
opinions from various bodies.
[HCM City plans to clear illegal street markets]
Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of District 3’s People’s Committee Tran Thanh Binh
said the district’s initial plan failed as local residents opposed it.
Most residents in the designated areas feared that vendor activity would
adversely impact their life, he said.
As a result, the district had to move the plan to an area around Con Rua Lake
and is still collecting public opinions on the change of location.
Similar plans in District 4 and District 10 suffered the same fate.
Hanoi authorities, meanwhile, have been trying to move street vendors to local
markets. But this plan also seems unfeasible.
Since 2016, the municipal People’s Committee has asked district authorities to
eradicate unplanned markets and set up new markets for street vendors in
appropriate places.
But across the city, street vendors riding bikes or carrying baskets filled
with all types of products are still a common sight.
Ha Anh Tuan, head of Urban Management Division of Dong Da district, said the
district has no spare space to build new markets while existing ones are full
and cannot accommodate street vendors.
Meanwhile, local authorities that can carry out the plan were met with chilly
reactions from street vendors.
Le Thi Huong, a street vendor in Trang Thi Street said she was not willing to
move to a market as she will have to pay a monthly fee and she feared her sales
would suffer in a new location.
Like Hương, many street vendors believe that if they move to a market, it will
be difficult to compete with traders with established businesses in the market.
In fact, since April, the People’s Committee of Thanh Xuan district has
provided more than 100sq.m in Thanh Xuan Bac market for street vendors,
prioritising those who were forced from the street during the sidewalk
campaigns. They were also offered three months free of fee. However, few
vendors were willing to relocate.
City-dwellers who prefer hitting the pavement for everything from a bundle of
vegetables to a bowl of noodles also helps nourish the street-vendor culture,
as it is quicker and more convenient.
“Going to a market requires people to park their vehicles, which costs money
and is time-consuming. This is one thing that makes consumers opt street
vendors,” said Duong Viet Hung, head of the Economic Affairs Division of Tay Ho
district.
To tackle the problem, in implementing a plan to resettle street vendors to Xuan
La market in 2018, Tay Ho district authority will offer preferential policies
for street vendors to relocate and set up a spacious parking space free of
charge in the market, Hung said.-VNA