People poured into the streets to sell goods, a town market in Nghe An was deserted.

People in Tan Lac town (Quy Chau) took to the streets to sell goods, causing traffic insecurity. Photo: Quang An

During the last days of the year, dozens of people carelessly sat selling goods along both sides of National Highway 7, in front of Tan Lac market gate of Quy Chau district. Because of that, people and bicycles and motorbikes were parked haphazardly on the road, causing traffic safety problems.

Some people said that because they could not sell their goods in Tan Lac market, they had to come here. Going out to sell on the street, they do not have to pay any daily fees. Therefore, people "carelessly" put fruits, vegetables, meat and even clothes on the sidewalk, encroaching on the roadside.

People freely buy and sell on both sides of National Highway 7, in front of Tan Lac market gate, even though a few months earlier, the local government had cleared the sidewalks and required everyone to enter Tan Lac market to trade goods. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In contrast, in the Tan Lac market area, there were few customers coming to buy goods. The clothing stalls only had sellers, no buyers. A saleswoman was sad: I thought that the end of the year would be a good time for business, but the closer it gets to Tet, the fewer customers there are, I am very impatient.

Observation shows that there are many stalls with locked doors, even though they have spent hundreds of millions of dong to bid for the kiosk.

In contrast to the street, the area inside Tan Lac market for clothing sales is always deserted and unsold. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Phan Van Sy - manager of Tan Lac market said: The reason some people in the market went out to the street to sell is because recently there have been few customers coming to the market, so they cannot sell their goods.

There are still dozens of stalls selling clothes, groceries, etc. in the market, but the number of customers coming to the market every day is very small. Therefore, the market management board has 5 people but each person is on duty for 1 day, because the income is not enough to cover the expenses.

The market management board has suggested to the People's Committee of Tan Lac town to find a solution to push away vendors outside the market, requiring them to enter the market to do business, but it's like "kidnapping and leaving behind a plate", only lasting a short time and then everything is back to normal.

Mr. Phan Van Sy - manager of Tan Lac market said that many kiosks have been registered by traders to sell goods, but due to lack of customers, they have been closed for many days now. Photo: Quang An

Talking to us, Mr. Lo Van The - Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Quy Chau district said that Tan Lac market has been handed over to the People's Committee of Tan Lac town for management. Previously, the local government and functional agencies had strongly propagated, mobilized, and chased away people selling goods on both sides of the sidewalk of National Highway 7, the section through the town, especially the old market section. However, in the days near Tet, the situation of people arbitrarily going out to do business on the street is quite a lot, causing traffic insecurity.

On January 23, the district assigned the town People's Committee to propagate and mobilize people to go to the market to do business, but people have not yet done so.

In the coming days, the district will continue to direct the People's Committee of Tan Lac town to take "hard" measures against individuals who deliberately trade goods in front of Tan Lac market, in order to ensure traffic safety before, during and after Tet.