From November 23 onward, street vendors in Kyauktada, Pabedan, Latha and Lanmadaw Township must move to a night market on Strand Road, according to a senior official from Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). According to YCDC data, there are 6,041 vendors and currently, as the first batch, around 1,600 vendors are going to move to night market. Food and fruit vendors will be prioritized.
Starting from July, YCDC have collected data for registration on vendors. In late September, YCDC started recording venders’ names and locations. Before move to night market, vendors already have got the identity cards which included name and picture of seller and the name of the product they sell. To avoid the fake identity card and reselling the place, there is a security system and regular audit checks in place.
The area of night market is designated from Aungyadanar Street to Pansoedan Road along the Strand Road between Maharbandula and Strand Road. The YCDC has spent nearly 2 billion Kyats (US$1.5 million) on the project and the site will also include public toilets, a system to recycle used water and CCTVs. The night market is open daily from 3 pm to 11 pm. Maung Maung Zaw, head of YCDC’s administration department, said “As we have already known, street vendors are one of crucial factors of traffic jam and disturb the pedestrians. There is not enough space for cars to park in the streets. Waste disposal block the drain, unhygienic food harm the consumers. Now, those vendors can sell safely and freely in this new night market. That is better for both the street vendors and the people”.
Roadside stall vendors can no longer operate their businesses along 11 roads; Anawrahta, Bogyoke Aung San, Maha Bandoola, Pansodan, Merchant, Shwedagon Pagoda, Sule Pagoda, Latha, Lanmadaw, Bonegyi and Strand roads. The ban effect starts in next month. Vendors have to pay 500 Kyats as registration fees per year but do not need to pay any taxes. Shop spaces are 32, 36 and 64 square feet in size. The largest shops will pay 300 Kyats per day while the small shops will pay 150 Kyats. Electricity costs 7000 Kyats per month and water costs 300 Kyats per day.
