Ban on street vendors to be lifted on Sept 18

 THE ban on informal sector sellers in Wewak will be lifted after independence, an officer with East Sepik commerce division says.

Senior project officer Gertrude Karu said the ban was imposed by office of the town mayor as a clean-up exercise towards independence celebrations in three weeks.  

“The ban is in relation to a clean-a-thon exercise from the Wewak town mayor’s office. The ban imposed is for the people not to sell on the public streets in town. They can  sell at their residential areas,” Karu said.

“The ban will cease on the 17th (September) and by 18th, the people can start selling again,” she said. 

Karu’s remarks follows concerns raised that informal sector sellers in Wewak have been banned from selling their wares on the streets for the next couple of weeks. 

Concerns were raised on how those people who depend on street sales could fend for themselves.

Meanwhile, acting provincial administrator Elizabeth Kaprangi said East Sepik was looking forward to celebrating the 40th Independence anniversary this month.

“We are going to celebrate on a high note this year. There are two significant events we will commemorate, the 70th anniversary of Japanese surrender in the WWII (which falls on Sept 3) and 40 years of Independence (Sept 16),” she said.