Does sidewalk protection still exist?

(Baonghean) - The issue of clearing sidewalk corridors and restoring traffic safety and order is currently a "hot" topic when the Vinh City People's Committee has a policy of leasing part of the sidewalk for business purposes, but after only a few days, it issued a document to stop the implementation.

The above inconsistency raises the question: how can we manage sidewalks well while still ensuring the needs of people who have long relied on sidewalks to make a living?

“Sell and sell” and “protect” the sidewalk

In recent years, along with other provinces and cities across the country, Nghe An province in general and Vinh city in particular have been actively working to clear sidewalk corridors, restore traffic safety and order, and build a civilized and modern urban area.

There is no denying the effectiveness of these campaigns as many streets have become more open, many businesses encroaching on the sidewalks have been cleared, returning urban space to pedestrians.

This campaign has received public support, but many street vendors are confused and worried. For them, the sidewalk has long been considered an “ideal” place to do business, a place to generate income to support themselves and their families. Therefore, despite being banned and pushed away, they are still willing to accept the situation of “selling and running at the same time”.

That is, when the authorities are absent, they sell, but when the authorities appear, they take the tables and chairs and run.

The sidewalk on Phan Dang Luu Street is spacious, although it is not allowed, people still use it for business. Photo: Nguyen Hung

Faced with the great demand for sidewalk business, many people are willing to pay money to do business "underground", and from here the situation of sidewalk protection was born. A typical incident occurred in early October 2017, Tran Van Tuan (born in 1984, residing in Hamlet 19, Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City), a taxi driver, impersonated a police officer in the Order Police Team (Vinh City Police) to cheat money from a barber shop owner on Quang Trung Street (Vinh City) with the promise of "being able to protect the shop owner to use part of the sidewalk area".

Accordingly, Tran Van Tuan calmly received more than 8 million VND and affirmed that he could apply for a sidewalk business license from the People's Committee of Le Loi Ward for the barber shop owner.

Major Phan Hien - Deputy Head of the Vinh City Public Order Police Team said: The actions of this subject made people misunderstand that the police force has long been protecting people doing business on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, to restore order on the sidewalk, the Vinh City Urban Order Rapid Response Team had to launch hundreds of operations, clearing hundreds of business booths and sales points on the streets of Vinh City, ensuring clear roads and airy sidewalks...

However, in reality, the phenomenon of functional forces protecting sidewalks is not absent. Specifically, in August 2016, Vinh City Police caught Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son - Deputy Head of the Urban Order Team of Nghi Phu Commune (Vinh City) receiving protection money from street vendors encroaching on sidewalks and roads at the intersection between Ho Tong Thoc Street and Lenin Avenue, the area in front of the gate of Nghe An General Hospital.

Working with the police, Mr. Son admitted to accepting bribes to protect and not deal with street vendors who encroached on the sidewalk. From November 2015 until his arrest, Mr. Son regularly received money from about 20 street vendors every month.

Or most recently, public opinion said that some businesses at the intersection of Thai Phien and Ngu Hai streets (Le Mao ward, Vinh city) were protected by the authorities.

However, Mr. Bui Van Dung - Vice Chairman of Le Mao Ward People's Committee denied the above information and said that the ward had organized many times to evict but when the functional forces were absent, people came out to sell. Up to now, thanks to the intervention of the Vinh City Urban Order Rapid Response Team, this sidewalk encroachment point of sale has been cleared.

The encroachment of sidewalks and roads in Quan Bau market used to be a painful situation. Photo: Nguyen Hung

How to manage effectively?

In fact, the need to use a part of the sidewalk for business and daily activities of a part of the population is very large. Therefore, after many discussions, on October 31, 2017, Vinh City People's Committee issued a document on piloting the leasing of a part of the sidewalk for business on Phan Dang Luu and Nguyen Phong Sac streets with a collection rate of 25,000 - 50,000 VND/m² of sidewalk/month.

According to this document, the pilot business rental section is the innermost sidewalk, about 3 - 4m wide. The pedestrian section is in the middle of the sidewalk, about 2 - 3m wide and free of obstacles such as trees, electric poles, and billboards. The outermost sidewalk allows parking for cars and motorbikes. The sidewalk rental must comply with regulations on the environment, landscape, and space. Households living on the street will be given priority to rent out a part of the sidewalk in front of their house for business or sub-rent for business.

However, when this document appeared, it received many mixed opinions. Besides the joy of street vendors, many opinions expressed concern and said that the Vinh City People's Committee's sidewalk rental for business is against regulations. Because, currently, all cities across the country are actively reserving sidewalks to ensure urban order and civilization.

Therefore, Vinh City’s policy of leasing and turning sidewalks into places for business and trading is contrary to the common goal of reserving sidewalks for pedestrians. In addition, leasing a part of the sidewalk has not been clearly demonstrated in terms of legal aspects of planning, fees, licensing, etc., so it is easy to cause a series of problems related to finance, urban civilization, and social issues.

Faced with many conflicting opinions, just a few days after its promulgation, the Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee - Mr. Nguyen Hoai An issued a document announcing the suspension of this policy. It can be seen that both managing sidewalks well to ensure urban civilization and solving the livelihood of households "clinging" to sidewalks for a living is still a difficult problem for Vinh City authorities.

In the long term, the city needs to have a specific, synchronous plan and a fundamental, sustainable solution in sidewalk management. This clearly defines which neighborhoods are allowed to do sidewalk business, the types of goods, hours, and orderly parking areas, etc., and which neighborhoods are absolutely prohibited, and publicly discloses this information to the public.

Because the more scientific, specific and clear the planning is, the more effective it will be in management, ensuring both urban order and civilization and meeting the business and trading needs of the people. At the same time, it will limit the negativity arising around the story of "protecting" the sidewalk.

Nguyen Hung