Illegal hawkers choking streets of Al Muatasim

Manama : Invasion of illegal hawkers are turning the streets of Al Muatasim into an obstacle course for motorists and pedestrians alike, despite official efforts to end the nightmare, laments shop owners there.

According to the traders at the road no: 421, block no: 304, of the Al Muatasim Avenue: “Illegal hawkers continue to occupy the streets, despite raids by the Capital Municipal inspectors.”

A person in the locality, who does not want to be named, told DT News that the inspectors raided the area on 6 June 2017 and cleared encroachments. However, a few hours later “the hawkers returned to their spots with carts.”

“We really appreciate the effort,” the person said adding: “But what we need here is a better system, which would be effective in the long run.”

When approached by DT News, Mazen Ahmad Al Omran, Vice  Chairman of the Capital Municipal Council, said, “We are trying our best to eradicate the issue.”

“However, the problem is getting worse day after day,” he added. 

Illegal nexus?

Interestingly, Al Omran claimed that the real culprits here are the traders themselves.

“These illegal hawkers are being hired by some of the traders, who want to increase their profit margin.”

Officials helpless!

Shedding more light on the difficulties, the officials face in finding a permanent solution, Al Omran said, “We don’t have a law in place to catch and interrogate these illegal hawkers without a court order.”

“The only thing we could do now is seizing their carts, so we really aren’t able to get to the root of the issue,” he revealed.

Explaining further, he pointed out that there are 580 thousand people in the capital, which has 121 blocks, of which 380 thousand are expatriates.

“However, we don’t have enough inspectors to deal with the situation.”

The issue has been notified to the Ministry of Finance, “but we are yet to get an approval,” Al Omran said.

He, however, assured that the “Municipal Council will take all necessary measures to get rid of the illegal activities”.

DT News had earlier reported about the huge losses suffered by the shopkeepers there due to illegal street hawkers.