KABUL: Hawkers in the capital Kabul complain the government is not providing them with jobs and municipality officials insult and prevent them from working.
The Kabul municipality, the traffic department and police have launched a campaign over the past three days to ban hawkers in the city.
Khan Mohammad, 35, one of the hawkers in Deh Afghanan area of Kabul, who sells electronic accessories such as telephone chargers, was not happy with what he said brutal actions of municipality and police officials.
“I feed my 10 member family, but police do not allow me to sell goods on roadsides and they even beat and insult us,” he said.
He criticised the government and said, “Dear Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani what should we do when you don’t let us work, should we join Daesh or Taliban, we should join militants or loot a house if you are preventing us from work for more than two days.”
Shafi, 40, another hawker in Kabul, said: “I have four children who need my support, if the government does not allow us to work then what should we do,” he said.
Shafi acknowledged that footpath were for public movement but said they had no option but to sell goods on the sides of roads to feed families. He warned hawkers would protest if the government did not resolve their problem.
Acting Kabul mayor Mohammad Aslam Akrami said the municipality would clear roads and footpaths from illegal hawkers in the next three days.
Asked if the municipality will provide a specific place for hawkers, Akrami said: “Municipality is not responsible to generate jobs for people, but it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.”
However, Abdul Qadir Arzao, the Kabul municipality spokesman, said creating jobs for hawkers was responsibility of the municipality’s Urban Services Department.
He said the department had currently no director. Arzo hoped the department would get a director soon to resolve hawkers’ problems.
101 Asmayee police zone spokesman Basir Mujahid said hawkers in addition to creating problems for people also paved the ground for enemies to commit destructive activities.
