At the end of December 2023, the sidewalk in front of the house of Ms. H. on Tran Hung Dao Street (Cau Kho Ward of District 1) was divided into two parts by a paint line, one for pedestrians and the other for commercial purposes after paying fee.
Despite regularly updating information regarding fee collection for the temporary use of sidewalks and road parts, Ms. H still wonders about what to do if street vendors purposedly encroach her registered part of the sidewalk.
Nguyen Van Nam, owner of a clothes store on Nguyen Trai Street in District 1 is waiting for the effective date of the new fee collection policy, saying that this would make his mind at peace during the store’s operation time. He stressed that once he has paid the fee, he is entitled to use the sidewalk part legally. He is also waiting for more updates on other rate calculation policies in this aspect, especially to help those not doing well in their business.
Chairman of the People’s Committee of District 1 Le Duc Thanh shared that 54 roads in his district are eligible to organize service and commercial activities, 85 have their sidewalks qualified for free parking activities. Certain locations on 16 streets are suitable for paid parking lots. The chairmen of the People’s Committees of 10 wards have been instructed to investigate and make a list of such streets to publicize to the community as well as submitting to the HCMC Transport Department.
Leader of the Urban Order Management Team in Go Vap District Nguyen Huu Huy reported that his district has also sent a list of eligible roads for the policy to the HCMC Transport Department. He commented that since a lot of immigrants in the district become street vendors in surrounding areas of local markets and hospital, it is rather challenging to monitor and control the urban order here.
According to him, the fee collection task must suit the special feature of each locality. While waiting for the municipal Transport Department to release instructions, Go Van District has been investigating all of its streets for qualified routes in each category of the policy so that it is easier to adopt the policy later.
In District 7, all wards have completed their investigation and prepared a list of 16 eligible roads in 6 wards for the temporary use of road parts or sidewalks with fee. After collecting feedback from the public for this list, District 7 will ask for opinions from the HCMC Transport Department, the HCMC Public Security Department, and the municipal Traffic Safety Board as well as related state agencies until January 2024. Then an official list will be published.
Meanwhile, the district is sharing the draft list to local residents so that they can prepare the registration process when needed. It is also preparing steps for the measurement and painting of sidewalk once the list has been approved. Head of the Urban Management Office of District 7 Nguyen Duc Tri explained the tardiness in carrying out this procedure as there are several contradictory ideas from the public, leading to even more careful investigation of the district while the propaganda task is being done.
District 12 has finished checking eligible roads for the policy and is able to identify 22 such routes whose sidewalk is more than 3m wide. After studying Decision No.32 by the HCMC People’s Committee on managing the temporary use of a part of roads and sidewalks, the district finds that certain content needs more detailed instruction, and thus asking the city’s Transport Department to provide one. However, no formal direction document has been delivered yet.
District 3 has devised a plan for the temporary use of a part of roads and sidewalks on 36 qualified routes after collecting opinions from local dwellers. Business activities on these sidewalks are smoothly arranged by the district according to city regulations. The local preparations are basically done, and the locality is waiting for instructions on fee collection and payment methods.
The HCMC Transport Department said that it is developing an official instructional document on fee collection for the registered temporary use of a part of roads and sidewalks, which will be submitted to the HCMC People’s Committee for approval.
Accordingly, the city will only choose certain roads to pilot this policy, in strict compliance with the new regulation on managing and using a part of roads and sidewalks, greenlighted by the municipal People’s Council before.
The city will use technology to control this fee collection process and minimize payment by cash to increase transparency and avoid additional labor costs. At present, the Transport Department is completing the management software, and will publicize all rates, fee collection methods, and exploitation plans to city dwellers.
