-Promises Relocation Of Petty Traders
Monrovia City Mayor, Jefferson Koijee Wednesday stormed the streets of Monrovia with a vigorous campaign on street selling in an effort to educate petty traders on the dangers of transacting on the sidewalks and his plans to relocate them.
Mayor Kojee who was flanked by employees of the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) and members of the Federation of Petty Traders and Informal Workers Union of Liberia (FEPTIWUL) said the MCC and FEPTIWUL have embarked on series of activities geared towards ensuring street selling in Monrovia is regulated.
He said Monrovia can be one of the most beautiful and cleanest cities in Africa if its inhabitants are willing to accept the necessary changes the city deserves by curtailing selling on major streets in the city, something he noted is a challenge for the MCC’s beautification policy with specific emphasis on city ordinance.
He is at the same time assuring the petty traders that they will not be removed from the streets without finding a proper place for them to earn their living. According to Mayor Kojee, the MCC has succeeded with the help of President George Weah to identify a place with the funding available to construct a huge market building where all petty traders will be relocated.
The head of the municipality of Monrovia reiterated to the public that they should rest assure that under his leadership, he is determined to utilize the method of peaceful dialogue and constructive engagement to solve the problem of unregulated street selling that has always being a challenge to the city.
He also called on petty traders to see the Monrovia City Police as a professional force and pledged that they will no longer be involved with the seizure of their goods as done in the past which used to create total hardship for street sellers.
Mayor Kojee is also expected to host a mass meeting with all street vendors and the FEPTIWUL leadership on Sunday, June 17, 2018 beginning at 2:00 PM. The Wednesday’s awareness with street traders followed series of engagements with the Petty Traders’ Union within the city limit of Monrovia.
The engagements amongst other things focused on how the City Government and the Union can collaborate to find remedy to the increasing trades on the streets of Monrovia and its surrounding areas.
Street selling has become a common practice at major streets in the capital during and after the civil war in Liberia; something which usually leads to huge traffic congestion. The practice is carried out by sellers of cooked food, (rice) roasted cassava, roasted meat, oranges and used clothes at streets’ corners.
During the engagements, leaders of Petty Traders’ Union complained of the lack of space to relocate their members. They told authorities of the Monrovia City Corporation that in the absence of space, removing street peddlers will be difficult.
They however promised to help the City Government to peacefully remove street peddlers from the streets if there are specific locations provided for their daily selling.
At the end of these engagements both the Monrovia City Government and the Union were expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding.
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