Following Ejection of Street Vendors
By: Momodou Justice Darboe
The Gambia’s security forces have succeeded in uprooting hundreds of vendors from the busy Sayerr Jobe Avenue in Serekunda in the name of road clearing exercise but after the vendors have gone, the boisterous thoroughfare is now being occupied by vehicles.
The Gambia government late last year mobilized the national police and the military to remove roadside vendors from the Serekunda market area and other parts of the Greater Banjul Area in what was dubbed Operation Clear The Roads.
This operation saw a joint security taskforce launch swoops on street vendors in the GBA. Armed to the teeth with weapons, the army and the police removed several roadside stalls, kiosks and canteens in ferocious security operations.
These exercises caused widespread devastations of livelihoods and there were instances of bitter confrontations between the security and street vendors. Some vendors watched while their livelihoods disappeared before their eyes.
The Gambia government said its intention to remove roadside businesses was a good one as it was meant to ensure the public enjoyed the right of way and to protect lives and property.
Many people, who were trading their wares along Sayerr Jobe Avenue, have been forced out after sustained anti-street vending operations, some of which were led by the Commissioner of the Mobile Traffic Unit himself.
After shattering the livelihoods of many individuals in the name of Operation Clear The Road, the authorities have now seemingly turned a blind eye to car owners, who have now transformed the promenades into parking lots.
