Scores of vendors in District 5’s An Dong Market convened yesterday morning in front of the commercial hub to protest the management board’s various instances of malpractice.
According to Thanh Nien, from 5am yesterday morning, September 19, a large crowd of merchants at An Dong Market started gathering in the plaza in front of their workplace dressed in red. The crowd also brought along banners demanding transparency from the management board.
The protest went on until 9am when the head of District 5’s People’s Committee Pham Quoc Huy arrived at the site hoping to appease the vendors. “We are informed of the demands brought forward by the vendors and will deal with it later after doing some reports [on the matter],” he said through a loudspeaker at the event.
However, An Dong’s shopkeepers deemed the statement unsatisfactory and started marching towards the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee in hopes of getting some answers from the authorities.
The news source shared that the gathering was the result of years of discontentment.
An Dong Market used to be a bustling center of commerce in District 5, famous for its high-quality fabrics, clothing, dried food and other knick-knacks. However, in the last decade, it has fallen into disrepair due to lack of maintenance.
The mushrooming of newer, more modern markets and department stores didn’t help either as An Dong struggled to compete. In 2012, all vendors in the District 5 market decided to pool their money – VND217 billion – for an upgrade. However, they were upset that after five years, the management board still hasn’t fulfilled their promise.
Moving forward, the vendors demand that the management board – which falls under the district People’s Committee – deposit the money into a bank account controlled by a representative chosen by the shop owners.
Moreover, the board is also expected to drop the rental fee which, according to the vendors, is unreasonable as they have paid for their kiosks outright when business first started in the market.
District 5’s People’s Committee still hasn’t issued any further statement apart from the announcement made at the site.
Video via YouTube user
[Photo via Thanh Nien]
