The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) recently kicked off the “I Won’t Buy from You” campaign, to curb the vendor phenomenon, thereby preventing the display and sale of foodstuffs that do not meet with health and public safety regulations and the use of pavements at the expense of pedestrians.
City Deputy Director of Public Works, Engineer Mustafa Al Louzi, stated that the campaign is in line with GAM’s strategic goal of improving the wellbeing and environment of Amman, and activating the role of citizens in enforcing the campaign by refusing to buy wares from vendors.
Eng. Al Louzi explained that GAM has started to combat a number of negative phenomena that damage the urban public image of Amman, harm citizens’ health, and disrupt traffic, pointing to citizens’ important role in discouraging such practices.
Al Louzi also clarified that GAM had allowed vendors the opportunity to work in popular markets and had supplied appropriate sites, yet some still elected to sell their wares without adhering to regulations, following their own whims and moods.
Along these lines, the City Deputy Director of Public Works stressed that most of the vendors at traffic lights were young children, put to work by people only interested in earning money even if it means endangering children’s lives.
He added that the children were distributed amongst traffic lights; at the end of the day, their earnings were collected, and as little money possible returned to them, making this a serious violation of children’s rights and depriving them of their self-respect.
From another angle, Director of the Health and Vocational Control Department at GAM, Dr. Mervet Mheirat, asserted that buying off of vendors is a health and safety hazard, as many of the foodstuffs on display are expired, have been exposed to direct sunlight, or kept in unsanitary conditions.
She indicated that GAM departments lately destroyed or confiscated almost 2 tons of foodstuffs and other wares from vendors, as most vendor merchandise does not meet standards and specifications.
Dr. Mheirat pointed out that the campaign which was organized in cooperation with the Minsitry of Social Development, the Directorate of Public Defense, and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature will focus on 16 locations, spread amongst traffic lights and the Airport Street, in addition to distributing awareness brochures urging citizens not to buy from vendors.
She said, “The fact remains that young children selling at traffic lights is merely begging in disguise.”
By means of this campaign, and in addition to the health factor, GAM aims at preventing the use of pavements by vendors, maintaining traffic safety, preserving the environment, putting an end to noise and inconvenience, and banning cheating.
