Source: O Fluminense - RJ - 19/07/2009

Despite the City Hall's latest actions, the illegal trade on the streets of Niterói continues in full swing. In recent years, street vendors have occupied the city's sidewalks. The Chamber of Shopkeepers (CDL) of Niterói receives, on average, 10 complaints per day from merchants who feel harmed by illegal street vendors. Without being disturbed, they arrive discreetly, with few goods displayed on small easels, on crates, or even on the floor. They are close to popcorn carts, churros or peanuts, or even with other legal street vendors. All this care is only valid during the day. Residents and traders complain about the punctual actions of the government and demand continuous action across the city.

“It is no use fighting the merchant in the morning, if the guard leaves in the afternoon and all the confusion continues. It is a serious problem that must be dealt with urgently by the City Hall, ”says lawyer Silvia Poupel, 47.

Informal commerce (fixed or mobile) has grown in an intense and frightening way in the Center and in Icaraí. In the legal areas of the Center, according to CDL-Niterói, the action of street vendors causes losses of up to 68% to traders. The entity also demands more effective action from the City Hall.

“The trader is very affected by the action of the street vendors. We pay taxes, create jobs and move the economy. The City Hall must resolve this situation at once. We always send letters demanding actions against illegal trade ”, complains CDL president Joaquim Sequeira Pinto.

The Trade Union of Shopkeepers of Niterói (Sindilojas) believes that the solution is to build a popular market for street vendors.

“The ideal would be to build a popular market along the lines of other cities in the country to allocate all street vendors”, suggests the organization's president and municipal secretary for Development and Trade, José Luiz Pascoal, who said that the City is studying the implementation of these units in the city.

Daily, at around 17 pm, street vendors begin to arrive. Quietly, they set up stalls or stretch tarpaulins on the floor to exhibit the goods, stop their carts and isopores at strategic points in the Center and Icaraí. Then the night crowd comes. When the stores are already closed and the inspectors are out of action, street vendors light up the streets and finish setting up stalls to create a vigorous and diverse night market.

The target of the street vendors are those who return home after an exhausting day. For merchants who still have stores open and pay taxes, it is unfair competition.

"It's complicated. My main sale is beer, mainly when I leave work. But always for one or two stalls at the door of my store selling a beer can R $ 0,50 cheaper than me. The difference is that I pay taxes, pay employees and rent the store, ”says the owner of a bar on Rua São João, in the center, who asked not to be identified.

Survey

Do you feel harmed by the street vendors?

 

“To trade, I believe it gets in the way. There are fights, arguments, a change in the business routine, the customers away. There has to be a space for them. There is no way to live like this ”. William Rodrigues, 40, hairdresser

“When it comes to passing with the stroller, it is very difficult. They get crowded, in addition to increasing the risk to residents. They had to make a specific space for the street vendors ”. Elisabeth Cardoso, teacher, 60 years old

“In the busiest streets there is a lot of street vendor hindering people's coming and going. The City Hall has to distribute the street vendors better. It is too tight to pass in these areas ”. Márcia de Oliveira Sanches, 47 years old, prosthetic

“I believe that illegal trade gets in the way. Especially here in Icaraí, where the cost is very high for the common trader. You have to do something ”. Felipe Marconi, 30, propagandist

Secretary admits that staff should be greater

The night trade starts and ends in the blink of an eye. In general, it opens at 18 pm and ends when the population's return home is ending. There are only a few vendors selling beverages, mainly alcoholic, and food.

“This trade exists as a result of inspection during the day. It is difficult to combat these irregularities. We do not have staff to operate in the city as a whole, nor is it convenient. The actions have to be guided, firstly by information and dialogue, and then repression will come ”, admits the secretary of Public Security and Civil Defense, Marival Gomes.

According to the Municipal Secretariat of Public Security and Civil Defense, the number of irregular traders selling products in the city can reach 800. To contain the growing number of irregularities, Marival Gomes says that it is necessary to hire at least another 200 municipal guards to act on the city streets. Currently, there are 437 agents acting directly to ensure the preservation of public goods and to contain illegal trade.

“We have a team that is able to serve the neighborhoods of Icaraí and Centro only at certain times of the day. To carry out today's operation (last Thursday), we had to move personnel from the South Zone and double the workload of some servers. The staff deficit is large. We need to have 650 guards on the street, ”he says.

Piracy - Another unequal factor pointed out by traders is the sale of pirated products. Without continuous supervision, disrespect for the law has no limits. On the streets of the Center, you can already see the DVD of Roberto Carlos' concert at Maracanã. Questioned by the guard's lack of combat against piracy and smuggling, Marival is emphatic:

“There will be no respect for the street vendor who sells pirated products. We have to keep these types of people off the streets. The population has to stop consuming and we are going to increase the repression. These guys are not from Niterói. They are opportunists ”, emphasizes Marival.

Asked by O FLUMINENSE about the statements, the Secretary of Urban Control, Gilberto de Almeida, said he would inspect the newsstands.

“We are organizing an operation to curb all types of irregularities in newsstands in Niterói. Next week (this week), the inspectors will take to the street and we will fight everything outside the Code of Postures ”, explained Gilberto de Almeida.

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