Small traders are upset because they cannot unload their goods before the 100th anniversary fair of the Ca Mau Whale Festival.

The 100th anniversary trade and culinary fair of the Whale Festival in Song Doc coastal area (Song Doc town, Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau) has many shortcomings that make many traders upset.

The event is only a few days away but the companies are "conflicting" making it difficult for small businesses to arrange their booths, with a high risk of "collapse" - Photo: THANH HUYEN

Reflecting to Tuoi Tre Online on March 8 , many angry traders said they had to sit and wait, unable to unload their goods after arriving at the goods gathering point to serve the 100th anniversary fair of the Song Doc Whale Festival.

Small traders cannot unload goods.

"From yesterday until now, the goods are still on the truck, not yet brought to the stalls. The truck company is urging us to unload the goods to return the truck to them, but the organizers still haven't let us in. We are so frustrated, we just want to go home," said trader Doan Kim Duyen, from Soc Trang province.

Ms. Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, a trader from Binh Thuan province, added: "The stalls are all stocked but we don't dare unload our goods because it's confusing when there are two organizing units. We'll have to wait until this afternoon. If they don't handle it properly, we'll have to go back. What else can we do?"

"The organizers and local authorities should recalculate. If the goods have already arrived and we are not able to buy and sell them, we will suffer a lot of losses," said trader Tran Minh Quy, from Phan Thiet, indignant.

According to Tuoi Tre Online , the trade and food fair area is located right on the main road to the residential area project in Hamlet 9, north bank of Song Doc River, opposite Song Doc Bridge, behind the old administrative headquarters of the town People's Committee.

The exhibition area has now completed the roof and theater. Inside there are about 100 lots and counters, but no merchants have been able to bring their goods inside to display.

Most of the vendors "sat around" and hung around at coffee shops near the fair area, looking tired, worried, and even dissatisfied, because they had attended fairs in many regions across the country but had never encountered such a situation.

According to the traders, the organization is not good and there are problems.

Conflicts may occur

According to initial information, the cause of the above situation was determined to be that at the fair area serving the festival in the coastal area of ​​Song Doc, there are currently 2 event organizing units, including Phat Tai Event Organizing Company Limited and Dat Viet Performing Arts and Exhibition Fair Company Limited.

These two units are having problems and disagreements, including who is the legitimate and authorized person to organize the event and organize the booth business.

In the same space and time, the traders that the two businesses called on to participate in displaying and introducing products were in the same product groups. This did not create diversity but unintentionally led to "collisions", which could lead to disputes and conflicts of interest.

Mr. Pham Thanh Hieu - director of Phat Tai company - said: "The theater has been rented and covered, but when the merchants brought in their goods, Dat Viet company stopped them. They also prevented them from hanging up pre-printed advertisements that had been licensed. I hope the local authorities will intervene soon, because if the festival is about to take place and it is still messy like this, it will probably go bankrupt." The reporter is currently continuing to contact the representative of Dat Viet company to clarify.

Previously, the People's Committee of Ca Mau province issued a decision on "Approving the list of locations, times and priority areas for organizing trade fairs and exhibitions in Ca Mau province in 2025". Phat Tai Company is on the list and is approved to organize trade fair and culinary events in Song Doc.

Meanwhile, Dat Viet Company was not approved by the Department of Industry and Trade but was included in the proposal of the People's Committee of Tran Van Thoi district to organize trade fairs and exhibitions in this district in 2025. However, the proposal of Tran Van Thoi district was later not approved by the competent authority of Ca Mau province.

Speaking to the press, a leader of the People's Committee of Song Doc town (Tran Van Thoi district) said that the town only participates in coordinating work to ensure security and order and clean, airy streets. The authority to grant licenses to units organizing events is decided by the district and province.

“In previous years, we also organized similar festivals, but the way we did it was to only allow one focal point, one unit to organize the event when they had approval from the provincial authorities and had all the legal documents. Now that there are two, conflicts of interest are inevitable,” a leader of Song Doc town shared.

Speaking to the press, Vice Chairman of the Ca Mau People's Committee Lam Van Bi said that he had directed relevant authorities to grasp the situation and promptly report on the organization of the fair to serve the festival in Song Doc. Thereby, advising the province on timely intervention and handling solutions, "resolutely not allowing conflicts to occur, not allowing hot spots to occur".

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tieu-thuong-buc-xuc-vi-khong-xuong-duoc-hang-truoc-hoi-cho-100-nam-le-hoi-nghinh-ong-ca-mau-20250308161440157.htm