Encroachment on sidewalks and streets for market purposes needs to be strictly handled.

Authorities warn against sidewalk trading and street parking in Muong Thanh market area.

Sidewalks become markets

Muong Thanh Market is one of the markets in the center of Dien Bien Phu City. Here, business and trading activities take place bustlingly. This is also the area with the historical relic of Muong Thanh Bridge, so the number of tourists coming to visit and shop is very large. It is worth mentioning that although the market has been invested in, the situation of encroachment on sidewalks and roads to make a market place still occurs regularly; even business activities on sidewalks and roads are more bustling than in the market.

From early morning to late afternoon every day, hundreds of people selling all kinds of goods occupy the sidewalks and streets. Many people even occupy historical sites to sell goods. Not to mention, many very large umbrellas are brazenly set up by small traders on the street to protect themselves from the sun and rain, despite warnings and handling by the authorities.

Goods are displayed right on the sidewalk, along the road and customers park their motorbikes and cars on the road, making traffic difficult and ruining the urban beauty.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, a resident of Muong Thanh ward, said: “The encroachment of sidewalks and roads in the Muong Thanh market area has been going on for a long time. Meanwhile, this is a road with a lot of traffic, especially at rush hour, making travel difficult and posing a high risk of accidents.”

People occupy the sidewalk of A1 - C4 route (section C4 area) as a market place.

At C4 market (temporary market) which was formed a long time ago in Nam Thanh ward. This area has no sidewalks so people take advantage of the space in front of their houses to do business, selling all kinds of goods from food to household items, clothes... Some households display goods, set up umbrellas, and cover with tarpaulins right on the street to do business.

In the past 2 years, when the A1 - C4 route was completed, the number of people gathering at a market on this route has increased, especially in the afternoon. This is a route with high traffic density, with construction trucks often passing by, so the risk of traffic safety is very high.

Many business people share that, although they know that selling on the street or sidewalk is against the rules, they still display their goods to conveniently serve consumers.

Ms. Lo Thi Tinh, a vegetable seller at C4 market, said: "Although doing business on the sidewalk and road is illegal and dangerous, there is no market in C4 area and because of the need to make a living, people temporarily sit on the sidewalk to do business."

The situation of occupying sidewalks and roadsides as market places is quite common in some places in Dien Bien Phu City such as: Noong Bua market area; Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu Primary School area; Sung Pha Sinh street market; market next to Dien Bien Phu Historical Victory Museum; Him Lam market...

Encroaching on traffic corridors to hold markets is wrong, but many people also expand, build more canopies, awnings, umbrellas, and tarpaulins that encroach on sidewalks and roads. Meanwhile, buyers often park their vehicles on the street to buy goods, making traffic order and safety at these places a source of frustration for many people.

People encroach on the sidewalks, stretch tarps, and use umbrellas, affecting visibility and observation when participating in traffic.

Difficult to handle completely

There are many reasons, first of all because the infrastructure at some markets in Dien Bien Phu City has not met the business needs of the people. Moreover, people from other localities also gather at markets in Dien Bien Phu City to do business, causing the number of traders to increase dramatically. In addition, the habit of buying quickly and being lazy to get out of the car to go to the market of a part of the people has been unintentionally helping vendors encroach on the road and sidewalks.

In fact, in recent years, local authorities and functional forces have made efforts to organize many campaigns to clear traffic safety corridors, eliminate illegal markets and spontaneous markets. However, after each campaign, the situation of encroachment on sidewalks and market streets "goes back to normal". Or, after clearing one place, people move to another. For example, recently, functional forces have taken strong measures in the temporary market area of Che Can village, Thanh Truong ward, and people tend to move to C4 market to trade.

According to Decree 100/2019/ND-CP of the Government, the penalty for illegal encroachment on urban roads and sidewalks for: holding markets; providing food and beverage services; displaying and selling goods, making roofs or carrying out other activities that obstruct traffic and occupying sidewalks is very high (from 2 to 3 million VND for individuals, from 4 to 6 million VND for organizations). However, these heavy fines are not feasible. Because most of the encroachment cases are "street vendors" with difficult economic circumstances. Most of these people do not have fixed assets, so the authorities have no basis to enforce and handle them. However, if we only confiscate the evidence of the violation, which is a basket of vegetables and a few kilograms of fruit as is currently the case, it is not enough of a deterrent.

Authorities requested people encroaching on the sidewalk at Central Market 1, Dien Bien Phu City to restore the original state.

Mr. Tran Van Son, Vice Chairman of Muong Thanh Ward People's Committee, said: "In the past, the locality has repeatedly inspected and handled the spontaneous market area, but has not been able to completely resolve it. When there are inspection forces, the traders run away, when there are no functional forces, they return to the market. Since the beginning of the year, the ward has coordinated with functional forces to handle 37 cases of trading goods on sidewalks and roads, but the situation still recurs. To completely resolve this situation, we must wait for the project to build the Muong Thanh market and commercial center to be completed and put into use."

Since the beginning of the year, the Urban Order Management Team of Dien Bien Phu City has inspected and recorded 19 cases; reminded 600 business households; required 173 cases to sign a commitment not to encroach on the roadway or sidewalk for trading purposes. At the same time, coordinated with the authorities to punish 39 cases. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Kim Lan, Deputy Captain in charge of the Urban Order Management Team of Dien Bien Phu City: "The team has implemented many solutions, especially strictly handling violations, but violations related to encroachment on the roadway or sidewalk still occur."

Authorities seized evidence of violations encroaching on sidewalks and roads.

Infrastructure overload, lack of planning; lack of awareness of both sellers and buyers; legal sanctions are not strong enough to deter... leading to the situation of encroachment on sidewalks and roads for business and trading happening frequently. Although most traders are aware that encroachment on sidewalks and roads is against the law, they still deliberately violate it.

To thoroughly resolve the above situation, in addition to strictly handling cases of intentional violations, completing the construction of centralized market infrastructure... it is also necessary to strengthen propaganda work, creating a habit of going to the market to buy goods for people. In particular, focusing on adjusting the habit of stopping vehicles to buy goods on the roadside in a "convenient" way of many people, including officials, civil servants and public employees.