Hope to escape the market 'running'

So when hearing the news that workers at PouYuen Vietnam Co., Ltd. (PouYuen Company, located in Tan Tao Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City) lost their jobs and their salaries were affected, sellers at the spontaneous market were also quite worried...

From 4-4:30 pm, PouYuen workers get off work, the streets are crowded with people. The afternoon market is bustling. Street vendors and pushcarts "surround" PouYuen Company. Car horns blare loudly. Workers stop their cars, quickly stop by to buy food to cook dinner. Vendors spread out tarps, displaying all kinds of food and foodstuffs on the sidewalks and streets. Everyone calls out to invite customers to buy and constantly looks around to "run" in time when urban order appears.

The road around PouYuen Company, bustling with wholesale people

GOOGLE MAPS SCREENSHOT

Nguyen Thi Ut (38 years old, from Bac Lieu) and her husband spread a tarp on the sidewalk on Highway 54, selling a few vegetables. Ut said that in the past, the couple worked hard in the fields in the countryside, but the harvest was always bad. Seeing that the job was not stable, 5 years ago, after listening to an acquaintance's recommendation, the couple went to Ho Chi Minh City, rented a house near PouYuen Company, intending to work as factory workers. However, they were not accepted, so the couple took a few items to sell at PouYuen market.

"I didn't say anything during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the past two years have been very difficult to sell, because of competition and because workers don't have money to buy. I've never seen a year like this one. Now, seeing workers getting off work is so crowded, but it's not as good as back then," said Ms. Ut.

"In the past, we couldn't sell fast enough, but now it's sparse. Sometimes we don't know if there are more sellers than buyers here, because there are so many sellers. There are women who stay at home and receive garment processing orders. Sometimes when they get a chance to sell pots and pans, they will spread them out to sell, and when they see an empty space, they will sell," Ms. Ut added.

People doing business around PouYuen Company "run" when urban order appears

As soon as she finished speaking, the clock struck 4:39 p.m. and Ms. Ut saw a patrol car from the urban order team coming from the foot of the Provincial Road 10B bridge. The couple immediately grabbed the vegetable tarp, rolled it up, and loaded it onto the motorbike seat. When the patrol car passed by, Ms. Ut took it down and spread it out to sell.

Working quickly, Ms. Ut said: "For the past few months, I haven't dared to buy a lot of goods, partly because the workers buy less, and partly because sometimes the urban order is strict, so I sell spontaneously. At the end of the day, if there is any leftover goods, I will eat them. If I don't eat them, I will have to throw them away and take a loss."

When asked if she would go back to her hometown for Tet, Ut replied: "I don't look forward to Tet anymore, I want to go back to my hometown but then again, where would I get the money to go back? Just thinking about food every day is tiring enough."

Continuing to sell vegetables to about 2 more workers, at around 4:49 p.m., Ms. Ut and her husband continued to "run", because the urban order team turned the car around. Around Ms. Ut, many people gathered their goods, carried them away, and turned away. Some people put their goods in styrofoam boxes, stood leaning against the wall, their feet firmly holding onto the boxes next to them.

Not far from Ms. Ut's stall, Ms. Tran Kim Hanh (43 years old, from Binh Dinh) pulled up her coat collar, put the tray on the table and was about to run away. Ms. Hanh said: "I only sell when it's difficult, but it's not stable, there were days when I ran away and broke my toenails."

According to Ms. Hanh, every day, vendors at this market are most busy from around 4-5pm, when workers get off their afternoon shift. Ms. Hanh knows that her business is also encroaching on the sidewalk, affecting traffic.

"But what can I do, I have no job now. If I sell wholesale every day, I can probably make a profit of 100,000 VND. Now I have to find a place to sell, but if I rent a place for 60,000 - 70,000 VND/day, how can I eat? If I am charged today, I have to continue to earn capital tomorrow. Now the government charges 200,000 - 300,000 VND/month for sidewalk fees, I also try to pay, so I don't have to run anymore," said Ms. Hanh.

Spontaneous market serving workers during afternoon off-shift hours

Mr. To Thanh Tam, Deputy Head of the Urban Management Department of Binh Tan District, said that recently, Ho Chi Minh City issued Decision 32 on temporary use of sidewalks and roads, in which districts and towns delegated management of a number of roads, allowing them to be used for parking, cultural and artistic activities, business, and construction material gathering.

After that, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council issued Resolution 15 regulating the toll collection rate. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport issued a document guiding that the roads managed by the Infrastructure Center will be licensed by the Department of Transport, and the district will be licensed for the roads of the district.

PouYuen Company in Binh Tan District

Up to now, Binh Tan District has been assigned by the Department of Transport to manage assets such as road works. According to statistics, the whole district has 548 roads, of which 352 have sidewalks over 3m wide, eligible for temporary use other than for traffic purposes. Based on the review, the district has developed a plan to implement the main purpose of sidewalks which is still for traffic, while parking, construction material gathering or trading are additional purposes.

Regarding the process, the district must evaluate each route, determine the route (which section, how long, from which house number), and solutions for implementation. At the same time, compile a list and send it to the police, traffic safety committee, Department of Transport and related organizations for comments.

After collecting opinions, the district will issue a list of permitted roads and their purposes. At that time, people will go to the reception team of the district People's Committee to submit their application for use, such as how wide and wide the sidewalk in front of their house is.

Regarding the proposal of people to trade at the spontaneous market next to PouYuen Company, the district has taken note and is consulting on the plan, then specifying which routes will be used and for what purpose. Binh Tan District will not implement it on a large scale but will first do about 20 routes.

People spread out tarps and sell goods in the middle of the street.

"This spontaneous market has existed for a long time. The spontaneous market sells by the hour, mainly serving workers after work in the afternoon, but there is no business at noon. It's like a routine, we have arranged it to be orderly, with a path for pedestrians and vehicles to circulate. Ho Chi Minh City has given the policy, the urban management department will advise in that direction to manage order," said Mr. Tam.

At present, around PouYuen area, there are about 7 routes planned to be used as construction material gathering points, the homeowner must rent them to be able to use them. As for other purposes such as parking or trading goods, it is expected that only a few existing routes are being traded spontaneously. The Urban Management Department will coordinate with the Ward People's Committee, the Economic Department, and the Urban Order Management Team to conduct a comprehensive assessment and then propose to the Binh Tan District People's Committee.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/chieu-tan-ca-cong-ty-pouyuen-dong-cong-nhan-nhat-tphcm-mong-sao-thoat-canh-cho-chay-185240116191251223.htm