Gov’t Puts Brakes on Roving Street Vendors

Phnom Penh’s roving street vendors are criticizing the government’s decision to force them to either take a break from selling their goods or sell from a fixed, out-of-the-way location until after the Asean summit meetings.

Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara issued the directive to clear the street of mobile vendors on Thursday. The directive came a week after a police directive to ban sidewalk eateries from high profile streets and to conduct fire­arms searches at spontaneous road­blocks.

The measures come as Cam­bodia prepares for the Nov 4 and Nov 5 Asean summit meetings, which could prove to be the country’s largest-ever international event.

Presidents and prime ministers from the 10 Asean member countries, as well as the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea and India, are expected to attend the meetings in Phnom Penh.

Kruy Naly, 38, a mobile fruit seller in Hun Sen Park, said she needs to work in order to eat.

“Good security for the [Asean] delegates is very important, but starvation is also a major issue. If I postpone my work, I will not have enough money to feed my two sons,” she said.

Chea Sophara said Thursday that he wants all mobile sales­people to stop selling their wares as they move around the city.

“Safety and beauty in Phnom Penh are very important, particularly on the occasion of the Asean meeting,” he said.

National Police Director-Gen­eral Hok Lundy said Wednes­day that security for the summit is of the utmost importance, particularly in places where crowds gather.

Mobile sellers should desist from selling, Hok Lundy said, be­cause criminals can disguise themselves as vendors.

Hok Lundy and Prime Minister Hun Sen last week guaranteed se­curity for the summit. The prom­ises came in the aftermath of the Oct 12 bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, that may have been linked to al-Qaida terrorists.

Kruy Naly disputed Hok Lun­dy’s theory that criminals could pose as vendors and said the mon­ey vendors stand to lose would be a more disastrous scenario.

“I try to work hard and don’t dare to take any time off,” she said.

Another vendor, Sin Pheakdi, 41, called the directive an “injustice,” but said she had not heard of the directive from government officials, only from other vendors.

“We are living in poverty,” she said, adding that there is no way she would harm any of the delegates.