Street vending a concern: Turi

By ALPHONSE PORAU
NATIONAL Capital District Met Supt Benjamin Turi has called for tougher laws to discourage vendors from selling illegally on streets and in front of shops.
He said there was nothing police could do to arrest or charge these street vendors because the courts did not recognise such cases.
“I am asking for the NCD bylaws to be tough if they really want to make the city safe and the government is really concerned about safety and security,” Turi told The National yesterday.
“We can arrest and charge but with the current laws where most of the cases going through the court like street selling are not even accepted.”
Turi was referring to the vendors blocking the entrance of the shops at Boroko and other places including the bus stops with their items and stealing from people going there to shop.
He added that the authorities should investigate the Asian shops to see if they were not operating illegally by giving items to vendors to sell on streets.
“The vendors in front of the shops are selling in bulk and I wonder where they are getting all these items.” Turi said.
“Some of these people are homeless but they are being paid by the way I see it.
“They have been given all these properties to sell and they get their commission. That is why they hang around every day.
“So it is better to get down to the root cause of it and find out who is in charge of that and do they have licences to operate in such manner or only inside the shops.”
Turi has instructed the Boroko Police Station commander to conduct patrols around the Boroko shopping centre to remove illegal vendors.
“They will be stationed there and at the overhead bridge for the whole day to make sure they look out for vendors and criminals,” he said.
“And traffic on the other side will do the same as well, and other units that come to Boroko will assist.”
Turi said street vendors in Boroko would be targeted to send a clear message to others in the capital city that police would not tolerate their illegal activities.