After clearance comes...encroachment
(Baonghean) - In the process of implementing Directive 05 of Vinh City Party Committee on strengthening the leadership of Party committees at all levels in urban order management, the city's police force has handled 18,000 cases of violations of urban traffic safety and order.
The Urban Inspectorate inspected and handled 46 cases of violations of construction order, confiscating nearly 1,600 billboards, tables, chairs, strollers, and sunshades. The People's Committees of wards and communes organized the signing of commitments for nearly 4,700 households on the roadside not to encroach on traffic safety corridors. People voluntarily dismantled 3,500 canopies of all kinds. The authorities dismantled 2,500 canopies encroaching on the sidewalks of traffic safety corridors, forcibly dismantled 62 illegal kiosks, cleared 13 illegal parking and mobile sales points. Confiscated more than 2,000 items encroaching on traffic safety corridors. The total amount of administrative fines and payment to the State budget was nearly 4 billion 300 million VND. The dismantling of the dilapidated corrugated iron roofs has made the sidewalks of Vinh urban streets more airy.
However, after the peak campaign, the sidewalk encroachment is now being transformed into many forms. On Le Hong Phong, Nguyen Van Cu, Le Loi, Quang Trung, Phan Dinh Phung streets... people have used umbrellas, carts, tarpaulins and ropes to cover up the rain and sun. Households compete to encroach on the sidewalks, making the urban face of Vinh city dirty and messy.
On Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in the center of Vinh City, there are still many carts selling soft drinks and necessities. Dozens of large umbrellas are set up in front of restaurants, coffee shops and even in front of supermarkets to serve business purposes. On some streets, in the early morning or late afternoon, shops set up tables and chairs right on the sidewalk to serve breakfast and draft beer.
On Cao Thang Street in front of Vinh Market, the owners of the business kiosks are treating the sidewalks as if they were their own property. All kinds of tarpaulins, green, red, purple, and yellow umbrellas occupy the entire walkway, goods and signs are displayed on the edge of the street, but no one continues to handle them like during the peak campaign. Along the Goong Lake, sugarcane juice carts and many business households openly turn the sidewalks into places for eating and drinking.
The current situation of sidewalk re-encroachment is challenging the city's functional forces. Are the wards and communes complacent with the results achieved during the peak campaign? The urban order regulation team, ward and commune police know about the encroachment but still turn a blind eye? The viewpoint of the city's Party Committee and government is to continue to handle it thoroughly, resolutely not to allow re-encroachment and not to allow business on the sidewalks. Therefore, the wards, communes and functional forces must consider the implementation of Directive No. 05 of the Vinh City Party Committee as a regular and continuous task. Because the current encroachment situation, if not handled, will set a precedent for long-term encroachment and the campaign to handle violations of sidewalk encroachment for business purposes will be like kidnapping and abandoning the dish, losing the trust of the people.
