Angola street vendors face ban
2008-12-10 21:36
Luanda - Angola's capital Luanda plans to ban street vendors from large areas of the city, authorities said on Wednesday, as part of a drive to reduce congestion and clean up downtown.
The vendors, who offer everything from fish and fruit to DVD players, are a regular fixture on Luandan streets.
For Angolans, who saw many traditional retail outlets shut down during the decades of civil war, they are a convenient way to shop, and for many of the country's millions of unemployed, they are the only chance of an income.
A plan has been announced to ban the sellers from public streets in the central Ingombota municipality, which includes the city's island, Ilha, and the densely populated Maculusso, and Kinanga districts.
Suzana Augusto de Melo, Ingombota municipal administrator, told the state news agency ANGOP that the sellers "would be removed in a gradual and orderly way" and relocated to a separate central site which will run a market three times a week.
"I think it's a good idea because the pavements here are so crowded and sometimes you have to walk out on to the roads to get past the people selling fruit and things," said Luzia Silva, 28, an office worker from Luanda.
Manuel Barros, 27, who has been selling clothes and bags for three years in central Luanda, said he was pleased with the plan to create a regular market.
"We are only here on the streets because there is nowhere else to sell," he said.
Luanda is also mulling proposals to ban car washing on public streets and remove pavement obstructions like generators and water tanks.