منير العاصمي
22-01-2011, 09:57 AM
By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 19/01/11
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/images/2011/01/19/110119Feature2Photo1.jpg
Algerian street vendors resume business after riots
الباعة المتجولون يعودون إلى نشاطهم في الشوارع الجزائرية بعد أحداث الشغب
[Reuters/Zohra Bensemra] Street vendors in Algeria are returning to their old posts after restrictions were eased in the wake of unrest.
After a week of riots that left at least five dead, informal vendors are back in force on the streets of Algeria.
Encouraged by government measures to calm the Algeria unrest and Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila's televised speech on January 8th, many street vendors see a new tolerance for informal business activities.
"The rumours about the immediate dismantling of informal markets are unfounded. We wanted to proceed in a gradual manner," Ould Kablia said.
Last September, the government tried to get Algeria's informal economy under control and evicted Algiers street traders, emptying the streets of illegal stalls and ad hoc parking lots.
Today, the sight is strikingly different.
The alley along the market of El Biar, on the heights of Algiers, has regained its fruit vendors. They were the first to install their crates. A fish seller, who was told not to clutter the site a fortnight ago, has retaken his place on the steps leading to the covered market. Opposite the mosque, sellers of used mobile phones and clothing have also reinstalled their stands.
Around the markets of Lallahoum in the lower Casbah, two sidewalks are once again filled with goods, forcing pedestrians to detour to walk. With the police attention shifting to the areas of tension, vendors feel greater freedom to return to their trade.
"Everyone benefits," said Karima, a passerby who just bought a pair of cheap boots. "The police rest from the ordeal of confrontation with the rioters, unemployed youth earn a little living that occupies them, and we buy for less."
Hamid B., 27, holds a professional certificate in welding, but "didn't find opportunities in the labour market" and resorted to selling pillows and towels at prices lower than in stores.
"I cannot afford a living. Fortunately, selling small items on this street serves as a refuge for me," he said.
Like other informal traders, he does not pay taxes and has no registration. "It is all net benefit, as long as it lasts," he said. According to him, the interior minister's statement that the parallel market was never banned for youth gives great hope to the thousands of unemployed.
In Bachdjerrah, a densely populated district east of Algiers, the informal market banned since last October has also resumed with vengeance. The recovery, however, has not been smooth since the market extends along the main road.
On January 10th, brawls over stall spaces erupted among herb traders. The day before, some of them tried to mark their territory with chalk on the sidewalk and roadway locations, which angered others. It took the intervention of police by tear gas to restore the calm.
Vendors unanimously supported the proposition to allocate a vacant spot far from the city to the youth of Bachdjerrah. "The area could contain up to 500 stalls," said one of them. "Since the abolition of this market, many young people have turned to drugs," added another one.
Many fear that the authorities will retract the changes once the post-riot wounds heal.
"We have to consider legalising the informal market, by offering the concerned the appropriate spaces. But anarchy with which this is done has to stop," said Rabah, from Bab El Oued municipality.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/images/2011/01/19/110119Feature2Photo1.jpg
Algerian street vendors resume business after riots
الباعة المتجولون يعودون إلى نشاطهم في الشوارع الجزائرية بعد أحداث الشغب
[Reuters/Zohra Bensemra] Street vendors in Algeria are returning to their old posts after restrictions were eased in the wake of unrest.
After a week of riots that left at least five dead, informal vendors are back in force on the streets of Algeria.
Encouraged by government measures to calm the Algeria unrest and Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila's televised speech on January 8th, many street vendors see a new tolerance for informal business activities.
"The rumours about the immediate dismantling of informal markets are unfounded. We wanted to proceed in a gradual manner," Ould Kablia said.
Last September, the government tried to get Algeria's informal economy under control and evicted Algiers street traders, emptying the streets of illegal stalls and ad hoc parking lots.
Today, the sight is strikingly different.
The alley along the market of El Biar, on the heights of Algiers, has regained its fruit vendors. They were the first to install their crates. A fish seller, who was told not to clutter the site a fortnight ago, has retaken his place on the steps leading to the covered market. Opposite the mosque, sellers of used mobile phones and clothing have also reinstalled their stands.
Around the markets of Lallahoum in the lower Casbah, two sidewalks are once again filled with goods, forcing pedestrians to detour to walk. With the police attention shifting to the areas of tension, vendors feel greater freedom to return to their trade.
"Everyone benefits," said Karima, a passerby who just bought a pair of cheap boots. "The police rest from the ordeal of confrontation with the rioters, unemployed youth earn a little living that occupies them, and we buy for less."
Hamid B., 27, holds a professional certificate in welding, but "didn't find opportunities in the labour market" and resorted to selling pillows and towels at prices lower than in stores.
"I cannot afford a living. Fortunately, selling small items on this street serves as a refuge for me," he said.
Like other informal traders, he does not pay taxes and has no registration. "It is all net benefit, as long as it lasts," he said. According to him, the interior minister's statement that the parallel market was never banned for youth gives great hope to the thousands of unemployed.
In Bachdjerrah, a densely populated district east of Algiers, the informal market banned since last October has also resumed with vengeance. The recovery, however, has not been smooth since the market extends along the main road.
On January 10th, brawls over stall spaces erupted among herb traders. The day before, some of them tried to mark their territory with chalk on the sidewalk and roadway locations, which angered others. It took the intervention of police by tear gas to restore the calm.
Vendors unanimously supported the proposition to allocate a vacant spot far from the city to the youth of Bachdjerrah. "The area could contain up to 500 stalls," said one of them. "Since the abolition of this market, many young people have turned to drugs," added another one.
Many fear that the authorities will retract the changes once the post-riot wounds heal.
"We have to consider legalising the informal market, by offering the concerned the appropriate spaces. But anarchy with which this is done has to stop," said Rabah, from Bab El Oued municipality.