Vinh City 'unties' sidewalk businesses

(Baonghean) - After nAfter many years of pushing and punishing, the situation of encroachment on sidewalks for business still happens every day. Vinh City decided to pilot a program allowing households to temporarily use a part of the sidewalk for business purposes and selling goods.

Business households "as if untied"

Graduated from university with a major in accounting, waiting for a job, Mr. Nguyen Van Huy and his family opened a beer and beverage shop on Phan Dang Luu Street (Truong Thi Ward). The monthly rent for the booth is 10 million VND, to ensure business operations, they also have to hire 3 sales staff. According to Mr. Huy's calculations, to cover all costs of renting the booth, paying employees, paying taxes... each day, the family's shop must have a minimum revenue of 4 million VND. The width of the shop is only 4m, customers who drink beer and drink like to sit outside on the sidewalk for cool air, so his family puts tables and chairs on the sidewalk to increase the number of customers.

Previously, this business was fined by the authorities and had its tables and chairs confiscated. However, since June 2016, the City People's Committee has allowed his family to pilot a temporary use of a portion of the sidewalk for tables, chairs, goods, and business vehicles. Huy excitedly said: "Like this, I feel like I'm "untied". Because the business premises are not large, while customers like to sit on the sidewalk for more space."

When the city allowed temporary use of part of the sidewalk, a shop on Phan Dang Luu Street added tables and chairs to serve business.

That is also the common sentiment of hundreds of business households along 4 streets where Vinh City People's Committee is piloting the use of part of the sidewalk for business purposes, including: Ho Tung Mau Street (Hung Binh and Truong Thi Wards), Phan Dang Luu (Truong Thi Ward); Le Hong Son and Cao Thang (Hong Son Ward).

These streets have about 270 businesses with many different products. Each household has signed a commitment with the local government to strictly implement the policy, using only 1/3 of the sidewalk in reality for business purposes. The city's functional forces will draw lines, determine the sidewalk area for tables, chairs, goods and vehicles, and at the same time continue to strengthen inspection and handling of violations.

The above policy is highly supported by most business households because it allows them to promote the function of "frontage". In the context of difficulty in finding jobs, staying on the street to do business is considered an effective solution for many households to earn a living, meeting both "supply and demand" for urban residents.

Strengthening management

This policy may be an experience that Vinh City has applied after many years of management and learning from the practices of Hanoi City, Ho Chi Minh City and some other cities. Many cities also consider sidewalk business as a serious field with the concept of "sidewalk economy".

The problem is that management needs to be more substantial, regular and serious. Because after being "untied", all businesses along the four streets are confident in their business activities, exploiting the maximum advantage of the "frontage" allowed. However, if they "go back to their old ways" and let their goods cover the entire sidewalk, the planning and management of the sidewalk will be "back to square one".

Typically, along Le Hong Son Street (also known as Hong Son Street), dozens of wholesale and retail businesses on both sides of the street display goods on the sidewalk, park vehicles right on the street, obstructing traffic and spoiling the urban beauty.

Ms. Hoang Thi H. has a kiosk along this street as an agent for a brand. Every day, she and her employees strictly follow the regulations on temporary use of a part of the sidewalk, but when faced with many households encroaching and blocking the sidewalk, she complains:

“Many other households encroached like that, blocking the pedestrian walkway, even partially blocking our kiosk. Some households initially complied like my family, but later also brought their goods out, encroaching on the prohibited part of the sidewalk. We request that the authorities and the ward take strict action to ensure fairness, contributing to the construction of a civilized street according to the city's policy…”.

Many businesses along Hong Son Street (Vinh City) encroach on the entire sidewalk.

Discussing this issue with Mr. Phan Thanh Son, Captain of the Urban Order Management Team (UTM), he said: During the implementation process, the city directed households to sign a commitment to maintain public hygiene, not to violate regulations on ensuring security, order, and environmental hygiene; to clean up after themselves, arrange things neatly and cleanly... if any household violates, they will be completely banned from doing business.

During the implementation process, the IT Management Team coordinated with the City Police and wards to increase inspections, reminders, and penalties for some cases. However, the difficulty is that after the functional forces left, the local government did not strictly manage, so the situation of re-encroachment still occurred, affecting the implementation of the city's good policy of creating favorable conditions for business households.

Nguyen Nguyen