A report says prohibiting of vendors on streets create more vice

Removing of street vendors won’t make Yangon City more beautiful but it will block their jobs and livelihood and create more crime, according to a report made by Development Partners for Ethnic National Races.

The report, released on March 29 in Sangchaung Township in Yangon, was put together after meetings with 400 street vendors in 15 townships in Yangon and a night market in Strand Road.

Among the 400, more than 140 sold food and related items. About 75 per cent of street vendors rely on the income of selling their products, 22 per cent partly rely on the income from selling and the remaining 2.5 per cent are working for extra income.

About 65 per cent of hawkers think they will be in a bad state if they have no chance to sell their goods, about 22.5 per cent said they will do whatever is necessary if selling is prohibited, 12.5 per cent said they would seek an alternative, the report stated.

“Now, hawkers are prevented from selling along the roadside for blocking of roads. Hawkers are not trash of a country. They depend on the daily income they get by selling. Preventing these sellers from selling will create more crime and destroy their characters. It is not sufficient just to eliminate these vendors,” said secretary of Development Partners for Ethnic National Races Tun Myint Aung.

The report also said about 92 per cent of hawkers are in debt, 72 per cent live in rented houses and only 11.5 per cent own houses. The remaining 16 perdcent are living with relatives or in monasteries.