Street Traders Decry Plans To Ban Street Trading

Street Traders in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State have kicked against plans by the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority to ban their activities from next Saturday, September 1.

It would be recalled that the RSESA Chairman, Mr. Isobo Jack, recently announced that street traders face both imprisonment and fine if caught flouting the new directives, which come into effect in the next 72 hours.
Jack said the decisions stemmed from the security implications of the activities of the street traders as well as their contribution to the filthiness of the Garden City and its environs.

Consequently, street trading is prohibited from Lagos Bus stop on the Aba Road to Eleme Junction, as well as within the Old and New GRA area, Ikwerre Road, Slaughter, Trans Amadi and other parts of the city.
The RSESA chairman warned that machinery has been put in place to apprehend and charge defaulters to court, warning that “they face being sent to jail and payment of fine.'

However, a cross section of the targeted traders on Aba and Ikwerre roads told our reporter this morning that the government's action was “inhuman, unfair and inconsderate.”
Hygenius Onyekachi, a 'Gala' sausage hawker said: “Before they kick us out, what is their plan to give us job? This is the reason why people are stealing, because those who do not want to be armed robbers and criminals are being forced from their legitimate source of livelihood.”

Others who spoke on condition of anonymity warned that Mr. Jack's claim that the directive would help curb crime in the city missed the point, with one saying, “they said destruction of ghettos will reduce crime, has crime reduced?”