Rangoon (Mizzima) – The ban on roadside vendors in three townships in downtown Rangoon has led to no arrests so far, according to the Municipal Security and Disciplinary Department.
On August 12, the Rangoon municipality issued an order banning roadside selling on Bogyoke Road, Anawyahta Road, Mahabandoola Road, Merchant Road and Strand Road in Kyauktada, Pabedan and Latha townships in Rangoon and said violators would be arrested under Municipal laws. “We seized the goods [of roadside shops]. We did not inflict other punishments,” an official of the Security and Disciplinary Department said.
In other areas where roadside selling is allowed, the vendors must have national identification cards.
The rule has been laid down to check national identification cards for security reasons, said the official, referring to bomb blasts in the past.
There are an estimated 3,300 roadside vendors in the three townships where roadside selling is banned. More than 49,000 roadside vendors are in the Rangoon municipality area.
